Revisiting The News 2: OJ goes to prison

[LSN80]

Slightly over 3 years ago, OJ Simpson was sentenced to serve 33 years(possibility of parole in 9) for committing armed robbery and kidnapping in what turned out to be a failed attempt to recover sports memorabilia that was being sold by two memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel. Among the items were various awards Simpson had won over the year during his college and NFL career, and his first wife's wedding ring. Simpson and his co-defendant pulled guns on the crowd in an attempt to coerce the items to be returned when the memorabilia collectors refused to leave. The incident was caught on tape, with Simpson being heard saying the following to his companion:

Don't let anyone leave this room! Noone f*cking leaves until I get back what is rightfully mine.

Undoubtably, this was the reason that the kidnapping charge was added, Obviously, this was a premeditated plan on Simpson's part, and not a very intelligent one at that. Simpson's attorney's admitted as much when they called the robbery attempt "poorly thought out" and "not smart." However, his lead attorney was quick to note that "These weren't the actions of an evil man." In sentencing Simpson, where she denied him bail, Judge Jackie Glass rejected his lawyer's arguments of Simpson's crimes as "acts of stupidity".

"This was a violent confrontation in which at least one gun was drawn, and someone could have been killed. This case is very unusual, and it was obviously premeditated. With the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath were all recorded on audio or videotape, I don't see how one could suggest otherwise. The tape also shows that the evidence in this case was overwhelming, and this was actually a very violent event."

The judge also noted several times during sentencing that her decision in this case had nothing to do with OJ's acquittal in the double murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, who were killed in Simpson's home. She stated that the sentence was "not revenge or payback" from those murders. However, she did note the following during sentencing:

You were given a second chance in life after your controversial murder trial. Instead of using that time to become a better person, you continued to believe you were above the law, and that there would be no consequences for your actions. You're here today because regardless of who you are, there are consequences.

I'm not suggesting that Judge Glass was lying or took into consideration OJ's previous murder trial when handing down his sentence. But it seems like she was alluding to as much in her comments listed above. I remember reading this 3 years ago and immediately thinking of the Double Jeopardy law, where a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The prosecution even cited, without being specific, his "past violent history" in their arguments for a harsh sentence. And not to excuse his actions, which were reprehensible, but the sentence is quite harsh, in my eyes. Now I want to hear from you:

Do you believe that OJ's sentence in the robbery/kidnapping case was in part influenced by a belief that he got off for killing his wife and her friend?

Any other thoughts or discussion on this topic are welcome and encouraged.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Obviously, this was a premeditated plan on Simpson's part, and not a very intelligent one at that.

That's an understatement. In fact, the crime was so wacky that I wondered at the time if Simpson's unjust acquittal years before hadn't weighed on his mind enough that he did this crime with some intention of being caught. Yes, that sounds ridiculous, but the circumstances of his murder acquittal were so crazy that it blasts all practical theory to hell. I mean, they find Simpson's blood all over the crime scene.....they find the two victim's blood in his Jeep......they find Ronald Goldman's blood on Simpson's socks in his apartment.........and the jury finds him not guilty! For God's sake, either O.J. felt guilty over what he had gotten away with years before...... or the same acquittal made him feel so invulnerable that he felt he could get away with anything, including armed robbery in a place with cameras. Pick one.

But while there is no real way to tell whether the judgment on the robbery case was influenced by the farce in 1994, it stands to reason that the judge doesn't live in a bubble......and might very well have had hardness in her heart for an unconvicted murderer like O.J. Simpson. Tough luck, O.J.

And before someone looks to enlighten me by saying the jury's verdict in 1994 is what we should go by today, I say this: No matter what the jury decided, O.J. Simpson ended the lives of two people. That he walked free doesn't point to his innocence as much as to the flaws in our legal system, especially as they pertain to capital crimes.

 

[Larry]

Do you believe that OJ's sentence in the robbery/kidnapping case was in part influenced by a belief that he got off for killing his wife and her friend?

I wouldn't say that the judge in this case decided "You got away with that, I'll see to it that you pay for it now and don't get away with this" but I bet you anything that went through their mind at some point. I think it's safe to say for anybody who followed that case back in 94-95 that without question O.J. Simpson was guilty beyond any REASONABLE DOUBT. In this case, once again he was guilty beyond and reasonable doubt and there was no Johnny Cochran to spin the situation for him. I think Mustang Sally got it right in stating that after he got off on that murder charge he thought he could get away with anything.

This man was even so bold as to write a book entitled "If I Did It" that most people said was basically a confession of how he in fact did commit the crime. I've read transcripts of it and he talks about the situation first hand as it occurred not how it could have occurred. I believe there easily could have been some animosity for him in this case having got off for the double murder, releasing that book, and now being stupid enough to do what he did. I don't think they decided he was going to pay for the previous crimes, just that he wasn't going to weasel his way out of paying for the crimes he did commit this time.