O.J. Simpson is due back in a Las Vegas courtroom next week, still seeking to have his 2008 conviction on armed robbery charges overturned and another chance at vindication.
Simpson, now 65, was sentenced to a maximum of 33 years in prison after he and five accomplices stormed a Vegas hotel and held several people hostage as he demanded they surrender a cache of lost mementos he insisted belonged to him and were previously stolen from his home.
Without a new trial, Simpson, now just four years into his original sentence, must serve at least nine years before being eligible for parole. This week’s proceeding are expected to last approximately a week and at some point the former NFL star is expected to testify on his own behalf.
Simpson is seeking freedom under what lawyers often call a "Hail Mary motion," or a writ of habeas corpus. It claims he had such bad representation in his first trial his conviction should be reversed and a new trial immediately ordered.
No matter how matters turn out this week, the proceedings Simpson will always be best known for date back to 1995, when he went on trial for the murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown and her young male friend Ron Goldman in a case that largely polarized the nation along racial lines.
Simpson was acquitted in the so-called “trial of the century,” but many debatable issues still linger. Issues of racism, domestic violence and mishandled evidence were as center age as the crime itself back then.
So captivating was the court room scene, it set the stage for all the televised court shows and celebrity justice cases that still permeate our airwaves. The memory of Simpson’s lead attorney Johnnie Cochran summarizing the significance of a black glove found at the crime scene as “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” still resonates.
This week, Simpson will enter the court room a shell of that man, not to mention the one who once thrilled and mesmerized audiences with his Hall of Fame abilities. Close friend Jim Barnett, who told ABC News he has made several jailhouse visits, describes him as grayer, paunchier and limping more than ever.
No matter, O.J. Simpson will again be on center stage this week. Only, it won’t be as N0. 32--- the number he made famous a member of the Buffalo Bills and throughout his NFL career--- it will be as Nevada prisoner N0. 1027820.
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