Justice or Irony: O.J. Simpson To Spend at Least 9 Years in Jail
On December 5, 2008 Las Vegas Judge Jackie Glass sentenced O.J. Simpson on his robbery, kidnapping, burglary and assault charges. The jail time resulted from the September 2007 “raid” during which O.J. and other cohorts barged into a Vegas hotel room with guns to reclaim O.J.’s sports memorabilia and other personal effects. The complicated sentence will force O.J. to spend at least 9 years in jail. In a bit of irony, even though the sentence could have been worse for O.J., in this writer’s opinion he is receiving harsh punishment for this crime while having eluded conviction and prison for the double murder in 1993 for which he was acquitted.
O.J.’s Pleas Before Sentencing
In an emotional plea prior to sentencing, O.J. sought to explain, justify and apologize for the Vegas raid:
Your Honor I stand before you today sorry, somewhat confused. I feel apologetic to the people of Nevada. I’ve been coming to the state of Nevada since 1959 . . . and I’ve never gotten into any trouble . . . . I came here for a wedding . . . . I didn’t come here to reclaim property . . . When he told me that Monday the stuff was going to be in Nevada . . . I called the Brown family and I told them I had a chance to get some of our property back, property that over the years . . . that was stolen from our home . . . we called the police and asked what to do and they told us what to try to do but you could never find out who was selling it. This was the first time I had an opportunity to catch the guys red-handed who had been stealing from my family. I knew these guys . . . I didn’t ask
anybody to do anything but stand behind me, allow me to yell at those guys and then help me remove those things. And, if they wouldn’t let me remove them, we would call the cops on them . . . . In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, to steal anything from anyone . . . . I didn’t realize I was stupid. I’m sorry . . . . I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. . . .
Judge Jackie Glass Comments Before Sentencing
Seemingly unaffected by O.J.’s emotional pleas, Judge Glass tried to assure both O.J. and the public that her decision had nothing to do with O.J.’s prior history with the law and explained that she respected the jury verdicts in the Vegas and California trials:
As the Judge in this case, I’m not here to sentence Mr. Simpson for what’s happened in his life previously in the criminal justice system . . . . I have great respect for the criminal justice system . . . I respect the verdict of my juries. I have to respect what happened in the case 13 years ago with Mr. Simpson. The jury decided. There are many people who disagree with that verdict, but that doesn’t matter to me . . . . I’m not here to try to cause any retribution, or any payback for anything else. I want that to be perfectly clear to EVERYONE. Because if I did, then I wouldn’t be doing my job as a judge . . . .
O.J. Sentence
After her introductory remarks, Judge Glass handed down the following sentence:
Conspiracy: 1 year
Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping: 1 to 4 years
Conspiracy to Commit Robbery: 1 to 4 years
Burglary: 26 to 120 months
Kidnapping (2 convictions): 15 years plus 1 to 6 years for deadly weapon
Robbery (2 convictions): 5 to 15 years plus 1 to 6 years for deadly weapon
Assault (2 convictions): 18 to 72 months
Because of sentences running concurrently (at the same time) and parole eligibility, it is expected that O.J. will serve at least 9 years of his maximum 33 year prison sentence.
Commentary
Although I was outraged by what I thought was an unjustified acquittal on double murder charges (mainly due to awesome lawyering by Johnnie “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit” Cochran), I actually feel sorry for O.J. over his harsh Vegas sentence. O.J. was stupid and, no doubt, has the arrogant attitude shared by many pro athletes and celebrities.
In the end though, what he was doing in the Vegas raid was attempting to recover his own personal property which had been stolen from him. The fact that the raid was recorded and that all but one of his co-conspirators pled guilty and took deals in exchange for testimony, also raises an issue as to whether O.J. was set up for criminal prosecution.
While I believe O.J. did break the law and commit serious crimes in Vegas, a 9 to 33 year prison term for this amateur hold-up seems extreme.
Tim is a graduate of Widener University School of Law (J.D.) and the Temple University Beasley School of Law (Master’s Degree in Trial Advocacy). Tim focuses his practice in Personal Injury law, including car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian accidents, slip and falls, dangerous products/products liability cases and medical malpractice. Tim is a partner in the Chester County, PA, law firm of MacElree Harvey and has offices in Kennett Square and West Chester, PA, and Centreville, DE. Tim is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury law and writes a Blog providing news and information on Personal Injury law at www.macelree.com/traynelaw and is a columnist for The Kennett Paper writing a column titled “Legal Lines.” Tim has also published two books on Personal Injury law: “A Lawyer’s Guide to Purchasing Car Insurance” and “A Lawyer’s Guide to Personal Injury Cases.” In 2007, Tim was named by Main Line Today magazine as one of the area’s Top Personal Injury Litigators. In addition, Tim is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum which recognizes the “Top Trial Lawyers in America,” with membership limited to attorneys who have won million dollar awards and settlements on behalf of their clients.
Tim can be reached by phone at 610-840-0124, by email at trayne@macelree.com or on his Blog at www.macelree.com/traynelaw.
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