O.J.'s Third Act

Nick Gillespie | September 17, 2007

Police arrested O.J. Simpson on Sunday, saying he was part of an armed group who burst into a Las Vegas hotel room and snatched memorabilia that documented his own sports career, long ago eclipsed by scandal.

The arrest starts a new legal odyssey for the fallen football star who more than a decade ago was acquitted of the slayings of his ex-wife and a friend, and opens the possibility he could spend decades behind bars.

Simpson was taken away from The Palms casino-hotel by plainclothes officers a day after the arrest of a golfing buddy who police say accompanied him with a gun in the Thursday night holdup. Handcuffed and wearing a golf shirt and jeans, Simpson was placed in an SUV. He was later ordered by a judge to be held without bail, police said.

"He was very cooperative, there were no issues," Capt. James Dillon said.

Simpson was at the Clark County Detention Center on Sunday night for booking on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm, police said. The district attorney, meanwhile, said he expected Simpson to ultimately be charged with seven felonies and one gross misdemeanor.

More here.

Was O.J.'s original trial good for privacy (it was certainly good for cable TV)? The answer may surprise you.

Comments

|9.17.07 @ 7:41AM|#

Ladies and gentlemen! We have this news season's Natalie Holloway case!

I'll bet the executives at Fox and CNN are giving each other high-fives. :)

The Artist Formerly Known as T|9.17.07 @ 8:32AM|#

The Juice is on the lose.....again !!!!

|9.17.07 @ 8:57AM|#

RTFA, AFKATravis. He's being held w/o bond.

tarran, imagine if he broke out of jail? Tabloid editors everywhere would die of apoplexy.

|9.17.07 @ 9:03AM|#

Bonus question: What is the difference between a 'strong-arm robbery' and 'a strong-arm robbery-type situation'?

|9.17.07 @ 9:09AM|#

Did they find a glove at the scene? Prosecuters better hope it fits this time.

|9.17.07 @ 9:18AM|#

Last time I was there, I didn't notice a particularly large black community in Las Vegas. If he gets in front of a jury there, it will probably be white people who rightly see him as a guy who got away with a particularly brutal murder. If you get away with murder, you might want to try to stay out of court afterwards. I mean you can only have so much good luck in court. I think OJ is finally going to the can for a while.

The Artist Formerly Known as T|9.17.07 @ 9:19AM|#

(In OJ's voice) I would love to.

|9.17.07 @ 9:24AM|#

"If he gets in front of a jury there, it will probably be white people who rightly see him as a guy who got away with a particularly brutal murder"

So we can expect riots in Vegas next year? Is there a way to profit from that? How does one "short" Vegas stock?

CB

|9.17.07 @ 9:31AM|#

They should do OJ's next trial in the MGM Mirage.

They could have Penn and Teller be the judge and stenographer, respectively.

Sell the whole thing on Pay Per View. That's the Vegas way...

|9.17.07 @ 9:36AM|#

Cracker's Boy: If you think that's a good idea, you can short resorts and casinos

|9.17.07 @ 9:39AM|#

Ordinary people would avoid getting arrested again and would keep a low profile if they were so incredibly lucky as to get away with a double murder.

But, you see, ordinary people wouldn't nearly decapitate two people.

Why did OJ screw up again and get himself arrested? Because he can't help it.

|9.17.07 @ 9:49AM|#

BakedPenguin - Thanks! I'll wait until jury selection is complete before I act, although I REALLY like Taxtix' suggestion.

CB

|9.17.07 @ 9:49AM|#

I'm curious: he claims he was only retrieving articles that belonged to him, so does anyone know how these items ended up in a Las Vegas casino?

My assumption is that he sold them at some point in the past; if they had been stolen, surely he'd have reported it at the time?

|9.17.07 @ 9:50AM|#

Good point Joe. It is pretty much inevietable that things are going to end badly for OJ.

|9.17.07 @ 9:56AM|#

My assumption is that he sold them at some point in the past; if they had been stolen, surely he'd have reported it at the time?

Not necessarily. And at the risk of defending the scumbag, he did have a point in one quote I saw about how the police haven't been especially helpful to him since the murder of Nicole/Ron.

BTW, I heard a recording of the incident taking place. Does this mean that the one of the perpetrators or victims was recording it? Or do hotels in Vegas typically record things going on in their rooms?

Episiarch|9.17.07 @ 9:59AM|#

They should do OJ's next trial in the MGM Mirage.

They could have Penn and Teller be the judge and stenographer, respectively.

Sell the whole thing on Pay Per View. That's the Vegas way...

This is a fantastic idea.

He probably assumes that since he literally got away with murder once, he can beat almost any charge. That would make him delusional, but normal people don't slit the throats of people they once loved.

thoreau|9.17.07 @ 10:01AM|#

First Chemerinsky loses his shot at a Dean gig.

Then OJ gets busted.

It's hard out there for a Trojan, man.

|9.17.07 @ 10:09AM|#

Who cares?
Who cares?
Who cares?
Who cares?
Who cares?
Who cares?

|9.17.07 @ 10:27AM|#

I guess what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas after all.

|9.17.07 @ 10:37AM|#

In re the first trial: My dad put it best: "OJ Simpson is no threat to me or mine. The kind of police work engaged in by the LAPD is."
IOW-He may have done it; he may not have. I don't really care. The verdict was still defensible.

That being said, I don't give half a shit about these new charges.

wsdave|9.17.07 @ 12:48PM|#

"Simpson was taken away from The Palms casino-hotel by plainclothes officers a day after the arrest of a golfing buddy who police say accompanied him with a gun in the Thursday night holdup. Handcuffed and wearing a golf shirt and jeans, Simpson was placed in an SUV."

"...for booking on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm, police said. The district attorney, meanwhile, said he expected Simpson to ultimately be charged with seven felonies and one gross misdemeanor."


All this shit gets him an escort by 2 plainclothes, while the SUSPICION of a couple of joints gets your door busted in, a gun put to your head, your family terrorized, and your dog shot.

I guess membership DOES have its privileges.

|9.17.07 @ 1:52PM|#

All this shit gets him an escort by 2 plainclothes, while the SUSPICION of a couple of joints gets your door busted in, a gun put to your head, your family terrorized, and your dog shot.

I guess membership DOES have its privileges.

Ain't it the shits?

|9.17.07 @ 2:12PM|#

According to the LA Times, in regards to the charges, O.J said, and I quote:

"I thought what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

|9.17.07 @ 2:13PM|#

...correction, it was actually:

"I thought what happens in [Las] Vegas stays in [Las] Vegas."

Kap|9.17.07 @ 2:34PM|#

Over at Volokh Conspiracy there's a post regarding whether his prior murder trial - even with acquittal - could result in a longer sentence if he were convicted on the current charges. It appears that it can.

|9.17.07 @ 4:44PM|#

Lets just hope the DA can pick a jury this time not stricken with pandemic downs syndrome.

|9.17.07 @ 5:43PM|#

"O.J.'s Third Act"

First as tragedy, then as farce.

|9.17.07 @ 6:23PM|#

"What happens in Brentwood stays in Brentwood, except some of it gets smeared all over my Bronco ."

Robert|9.17.07 @ 11:20PM|#

You can't make stuff like this up. I guess it was just a matter of time.