O.J. Simpson was granted the right to have one hand unshackled to drink water and take notes during Day 2 of his attempt to win a new trial in his robbery case on Tuesday, according to ESPN. Simpson is currenty serving a nine to 33 year stint in prison for leading five men in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007.
The Hall of Fame running back managed to smile and waist-high wave with his shackled hand as he entered the courtroom and found friends and family members in the audience. His lawyers then convinced Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell to let Simpson have his right hand free. Previously, Simpson's left hand was still cuffed to the arm of his chair.
Lawyers for Simpson are claiming that his trial lawyer, Yale Galanter, gave such bad trial advice and had such conflicted interests that Simpson deserves a new trial. "He looks like a beaten man," said Thomas Scotto, 51, a close Simpson friend in the audience whose wedding was the reason for Simpson's fateful trip to Las Vegas.
Galanter's former friend and co-counsel, Gabriel Grasso, returned to the stand on Tuesday to provide more withering criticism about Galanter's promises and performance during the 2008 trial and conviction and later appeal.
Grasso testified on Monday that Galanter took money for himself, didn't pay him and refused to pay for experts to analyze the audio recordings that would eventually convict Simpson. "Hey Gabe. Wanna be famous?" Grasso recalled Galanter asking as the two embarked on a relationship that later deteriorated into lawsuits over a handshake agreement to represent Simpson and split an expected $750,000 in legal fees -- a third for Grasso and two-thirds for Galanter.
Grasso said he was only paid $15,000 even though the weight of pretrial work fell to him.
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