Simpson gets a shot at a new trial

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On the surface, it seems like the perfunctory, garden-variety, Hail Mary pass from one of the thousands of convicted felons who happen to actually be innocent.

Closer inspection shows that Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson has a chance at getting a new trial on armed robbery and kidnapping charges that have placed him behind bars since 2008.

As explained by the Associated Press, Simpson has received a five-day hearing focusing on 19 specific points raised in support of the argument that his lawyer, Yale Galanter, botched the case so badly that Simpson deserves another chance to prove his innocence.  Simpson contends, for example, that he advised Galanter of the plan to confront two dealers of collectibles in an effort to recover Simpson’s property, and that Galanter approved of the strategy.  Also, Simpson claims that Galanter told Simpson that his testimony at trial wasn’t necessary, and that Galanter failed to tell Simpson that prosecutors had offered a plea deal that would have given Simpson a minimum of two years behind bars.

Simpson has exhausted his appeal rights at the state-court level in Nevada.  He’s using the federal device known as the writ of habeas corpus in an effort to get a new trial that possibly would result in his freedom.

Some believed at the time Simpson was convicted that the process was tainted by a desire to put behind bars the man who was found civilly but not criminally responsible for the brutal murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, who happened to be in the wrong place at the worst possible time.  Many believe that Simpson did it, but that the late Johnnie Cochran masterfully conjured reasonable doubt, thanks to the not-so-subtle spreading of Simpson’s fingers while trying on gloves that notoriously didn’t fit.

75 responses to “Simpson gets a shot at a new trial

  1. “Many believe that Simpson did it,…”

    Wait, theres somebody out there who thinks he didnt do it?

  2. No one was hurt, no one was injured, and he was trying to take HIS stuff back. And he gets 15-30 in prison? The judge sentenced him for his murder acquittal, not the case she was presiding over.

    Enough is enough, give him time served and let him move on with his life and make room for someone who actually deserves to be in prison for that time frame.

  3. Dang, the Juice looks expired.
    No pun intended.
    Maybe he’ll sue the NFL for concussions to re-stash some cash.
    Goodluck, O.J. Loved you in Naked Guns.

  4. Simpson got exactly what he deserved in this case. Whether or not he gets a new trial, this appeal demonstrates just how dysfunctional our justice system is. In this case, Simpson admittedly used a gun and he’s recorded issuing threats during the crime. Case closed, keep him locked up.

  5. This guys life story is amazing. All time best RB, murders his wife and her lover, gets off because his legal team makes up some defense about wookies living on endor or something, writes a book “if i did murder her, this is how it went down *wink*” then gets thrown in jail for trying to steal a pair of his own shoes.

  6. If he was not OJ he would not have been arrested in Vegas (let alone convicted) . Totally bogus.

    If he was not OJ he would have been found guilty in LA. Totally bogus.

    I am a retired cop. I NEVER took into account the many times a guy got away with some other crime or whatever time he did while deciding whether to arrest. It is and should ALWAYS be apples and oranges. Every incident should be judged on that incident and nothing more.

  7. One of the best RBs ever.

    Still remember the Bronco chase like it was yesterday. That pretty much made his guilt obvious. He must have some money somewhere if he’s got a lawyer that could get him a new trial.

  8. LOL OJ GOT RAILROADED..HE COULDA BEEN OUT OF JAIL A FEW YEARS AGO..Straight set up by the state..and I still don’t think he killd his bby moma and Ole boy..that was a HIT..everybody in Cali knows Nicole & Rob was caught up and owed the dope man..sad none the less

  9. I find Cochran’s efforts far less than “masterful.” Manipulating the minds of the stooges on that jury did not require anything masterful — everything confused them.

    Listen to their post-trial comments, which basically were words to the effect (paraphrasing): “Nothing made sense to us” and “We just found everything so confusing.”

    That jury would have found the directions to toast a bagel too complex to understand.

    It was a disgrace.

  10. You know who else would like another trial, although for another case? The families of Ron and Nicole.

  11. I heard taht Cochran ripped the lining of the glove so his hand simply caught on the fabric and would not “fit.”

    Either way, he was clearly guilty. The prosecution butt fumbled it.

  12. The blame someone else defense, Hey why not? worked the first time and got away with murder .I say let him out so he can find the real killer or killers. Cedric the entertainer said it best in Barber shop
    O.J DID IT!!!!!

  13. They finally got him for the murders when they got a chance, due to the robbery.

    Personally, I’m fine with that.

    He can rot in hell.

  14. Another option is that the prosecution was incompetent and botched the case. The jury actually found the right verdict based on the terrible case presented in court … and OJ did it.

  15. Oh goodness – the biggest victim in legal history. It would be justice if by some strange quirk of fate that this monster would end up with the death penalty. But that would probably just end up with some poor inner cities getting destroyed by mob indigence…

  16. I was laid off work at the time and watched the entire trial on TV.

    OJ did have the worst lawyer of all time and did not have a chance.

    It appeared that he was guilty regardless and he should be in prison IMO, but he got railroaded in this case.


    The fact that an outright, proven racist planted evidence might have had something to do with it, too. He probably did it, but that surely didn’t help.

  18. If Mr. Galanter is as incompetent as the petition alleges, why has it taken this long to bring it to the attention of the authorities?

    OTOH, if anybody deserves to rot away in a cell it would be O.J. Simpson.

  19. These things usually are “hail Marys,” indeed. But if his lawyer was offered a deal for a 2-year sentence, he was duty bound to tell the Juice about the deal. If he didn’t, the lawyer should be sanctioned, but I’m not sure that means he should get a new trial.

    O.J. taped his own crime…walked into a place with a weapon, armed conspirators and took property from someone engaged in trade. He’s guilty.

  20. Who cares about O.J. Simpson? We all know what he did.
    He knows it too, and I hope he thinks about it every minute of his life.
    Personally, I hope he rots right where he is.

  21. FREE O.J!!! FREE O.J!! FREE O.J!!
    Let my people go. you cant steel something thats yours. the Juice still
    got his money and he will get out playing golf again.

  22. There was nothing “masterful” about Johnnie Cochran’s conjuring. In fact , he was as inept as the D.A., the Asst. D.A.s, the Judge and the hopelessly biased/ignorant jury. The one juror proclaimed that the blood evidence was contaminated when, if so, would have been impossible to produce Simpson’s DNA – which it ultimately did.
    Let’s not forget that the Judge turned the trial into the “Mark Fuhrman case” instead of what it should have been. And let’s also not forget about the “worlds foremost authority on forensic evidence” – Dr. Lee. Here’s a guy who proclaimed that a footprint that was imbedded in the cement – when it was poured! – was the footprint of a second assailant at the time of the murders! Unbelievable!

    Simpson belongs in prison for the rest of his life – now if we can just see our way to finally arresting Jane Fonda for treason – we just might be on our way to some justice – instead of picking and choosing who should be prosecuted.

  23. Let me start by saying I think he’s guilty.

    However, if it’s true that the prosecutor offered a plea bargain and Galenter withheld it from his client, that’s unforgivable and certainly grounds for a new trial. The same applies to the contention that Simpson sought legal advice before confronting the dealer- if the lawyer approved it, that’s also unforgivable.

    On the other hand, you have to wonder whether either contention has merit. It seems unlikely that these issues have not been brought up in his other appeals.

  24. Of course his conviction was motivated by a sense of him deserving to be in jail. I mean, duh. And you know what? I’m totally good with that. Justice is served, you psycho.

  25. Sorry your lawyer wasn’t good enough to get you off when you were obviously guilty AGAIN, OJ. If he really wasn’t informed of the plea deal (which I doubt), the lawyer should be punished, but that isn’t grounds for a new trial because it doesn’t affect the guilty verdict at all.

  26. When playing college football, we actually shared a practice field with the Bills and O.J. when the Bills and Raiders were going to play that week end. It was kind of neat being 20 yards from “the juice” in his prime. He had played his first college ball at City College of S.F. before going to S.C, and one of my position coaches actually tackled him in a game they played against our team.
    That being said, some people just need to go away. Others need to rot. Simpson is the latter.
    After attending a forensic talk with people intimately involved in the original murder case, there was NO DOUBT Simpson commited murder-twice. The supressed evidence was astonishing. Just some poor police work, lousy prosecuting and a stupid jury.
    I don’t care about his “armed robbery”. The result is the same as the IRS getting Al Capone on a tax evasion charge. Just glad he’s behind bars.

  27. Ok so if he gets a new trial and still loses, does the public get lucky and he has to start his sentence all over again? LOL
    Hey its only fair, you want a redo you get a redo.

  28. I think Simpson is guilty of double murder and I hope he rots in jail. However, when people talk about the 1995 trial and Johnny Cochran, the “Dream Team” and racial issues, they always seem to miss one important point. How many times in American History has a defendant been convicted in a trial in which the states key witness – who also happens to be the lead police detective – is caught committing perjury in the middle of the trial? I am guessing somewhere near zero.

    Punish Simpson for the crime he committed. But blame Mark Fuhrman for the fact that he wasn’t already in jail to begin with. His character issues led directly to the acquittal.

  29. HLN needs a ratings boost.
    This might do the trick.
    HLN could put OJ on its payroll.

  30. Questions on the murders:

    1. Who other than OJ had been materially affected by the OJ/Nicole Brown Simpson divorce?

    2. What was that long slow motion chase in the Bronco all about?

    3. Why was OJ un-cooperative with the authorities as they tried to pin down his whereabouts at the time of the crime at his initial interrogation?

    4. Why did OJ not let his lawyers explore alternate theories as to the murderer as part of his trial defense?

    5. Why did OJ allegedly use a knife to kill the two victims? He owned a .357 magnum. Why would he take a knife to kill somebody when he had a gun readily available?

  31. Everybody wants to bash O.J. Simpson, but why, you think he was smart enough to hide evidence in a double homicide? really? All they came up with was a glove, where’s the blood on his clothes and where’s the cuts someone would get from shoving a knife into another person, he couldn’t have done it, those two had a drug problem no doubt, why didn’t the cops check that avenue? Because the media hounds were all over this thing, get over it, the family sued and they got partial payment! Find the real killer/ killers..
    O.J. had his crap stole, nobody stepped up to help him get it back. Ya’ll should find another scapegoat!!!

  32. In the murder trial, two knives (single & double-edged) were used, the phone records were sealed (why?), two different coroners with different autopsy reports, drug debts, etc… If O.J. Did murder Nicole & Ron, he didn’t act alone.

  33. Maybe the Bills can install an end-around and name it the “WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS”

  34. blackngold4life says:
    May 11, 2013 1:02 AM


    “A hit” would generally involve a firearm.
    Stabbings indicate the crime was personal.
    Any 2 bit investigator knows this.

  35. You guys know he also had a book called “if i did it” and he also, about 8 months ago, reportedly offered to sell the murder weapon for 5 million dollars that would go directly into an offsure account so it could presumably not be touched by nicoles family. Seriously, google it.

    Sure sounds like he was innocent of the murders to me…..

  36. Out of the handful of posters above who actually believe OJ didn’t do it, I wonder if any of them are white?

    Folks, he wrote a book explaining how he did it!! He tried to get a tv and movie deal out of it. This guy is scum and deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison. He got off because his defense team was able to load the jury with black folks and the prosecution was too dumb to figure out that an all black jury wasn’t going to be partial. Every juror knew he did it, they just didn’t care. Rule number one on that side of the street: Don’t talk to the police.

    For god’s sake, there was a trail of blood from the crime scene to the vehicle to OJ’s home. He DID have scrapes and cuts and he didn’t have any kind of alibi. He was the most obviously guilty person I’ve even seen on trial. The fact that he got off set race relations back years.

  37. If there is merit to his claims that his representation in the last trial was seriously flawed and the law allows it, he should be granted a new trial. Not for any reason other than keeping the criminal justice system as fair as possible. Certainly not for Simpson but for others that are accused that don’t have his resources. The integrity of the criminal justice system is far more important.

    Like it or not there is a chance that he’s in jail for the wrong reason and that’s just unacceptable. I will admit however I’m not losing any sleep over it because there is a certain Cosmic justice to it all.

  38. whatever, it’s always fun to see OJ trying to BS a judge in court…the video from his sentencing in 2008 is the greatest thing ever! #fryem

  39. Any time a person orders another person to kill its a HIT..DONT MATTER what kind of weapon was used..could be a pillowcase..or a shank like in jail.. and if you ever been in Nicole’s neighborhood you would see why NO gun was used..would have brought too much attention when she had neighbors. less then 10 yards away on both sides. No screams or scuffle was even heard. So I guess OJs a Ninja using TWO different knives to kill 2 ppl?? Like the old sayin says “REAL killers move in silence” Ron and Nicole got ambushd by 2 ppl

  40. Just to play devil’s advocate, you bunch of tools. I saw an interview with two of the jurors a couple years after the trial. They says before the trial, both sides brought in blood experts who argued over the standards for what is or is not a match. By the agreed upon pretrial standards, the jurors said oj’s blood did not match the other blood. There was no murder weapon and no witnesses, and the blood thing ruled out dna evidence. Thats the ball game, scoreboard says 3-0, period. No material evidence means everything else is circumstantial, and there is reasonable doubt.

    If oj was innocent – and the criminal trail said he was – that civil trial was a travesty.

    …and yeah, oj deserves a new trial, if his defense stank that bad.

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