O.J. Simpson Denied New Trial By Las Vegas Judge

O.J. SimpsonO.J. Simpson‘s latest attempt for freedom seems to be over, as a judge in Las Vegas rejected his bid for a new trial in his 2008 armed robbery and kidnapping conviction.

In denying his request, Clark County District Judge Linda Marie Bell said, “All grounds in the petition lack merit and, consequently, are denied.”

Simpson lawyer Ozzie Fumo said he expected they would appeal Bell’s decision to the Nevada Supreme Court. If that is not successful, they could try to bring the case to federal court to argue his constitutional right to effective counsel was violated.

Bell’s ruling is 101 pages long, stemming from Simpson’s 94-page petition for a new trial and five days of testimony in May from 15 witnesses, including Simpson, Yale Galanter, Gabriel Grasso and other lawyers involved in the trial.

Simpson was found guilty in 2008 of kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges after he attempted to retrieve memorabilia and personal items from two sports collectibles dealers in a casino hotel room. That Las Vegas conviction came 13 years to the day after he was acquitted in the stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman—the so-called “Trial of the Century” that drew the eyes of the world and revealed a yawning chasm in the reactions of the black and white communities to the verdict.

The former football legend, 66, must now finish serving his nine to 33 years in a Nevada state prison. He will not  be eligible for parole until he is 70.

Simpson contended that he received inadequate legal representation in his case from the Miami-based attorney, Galanter, who Simpson said had advised him that it would be okay for him to retrieve his items from the hotel room as long as he didn’t use force.

In the new case, Simpson’s lawyers sought to show that after Galanter advised Simpson it was okay to take back his items, he should have stepped aside so he could be called as a witness for Simpson’s defense. But because of his desire to get his hands on Simpson’s money, he didn’t do so. Instead,  Galanter advised Simpson not to testify, failed to hire experts and investigators to help his case while pocketing much of the nearly $700,000 they say he was paid. He also reached a pretrial agreement with prosecutors not to enter evidence into the trial records of phone calls that raised questions about whether he had knowledge of the heist.

In addition, by remaining on the case through the appeal, Galanter nearly precluded Simpson from ever arguing he had ineffective counsel.

During his testimony, Simpson spent an entire day recounting how Galanter misled him. He said he and Galanter talked over dinner in Las Vegas the night before the ill-fated September 2007 hotel room confrontation.

“It was my stuff,” Simpson said. “I followed what I thought was the law. My lawyer told me I couldn’t break into a guy’s room. I didn’t break into anybody’s room. I didn’t try to muscle the guys. The guys had my stuff, even though they claimed they didn’t steal it.”

But Galanter dramatically contradicted Simpson’s account two days later, telling the judge he was surprised when Simpson told him that he and several other men were planning a “sting” the next morning to take back mementos.

“I said, ‘O.J., you’ve got to call the police,'” Galanter testified, also disputing Simpson’s claim that he was never informed about plea bargain discussions with prosecutors that could have resulted in a prison sentence of just a few years.

Galanter also testified that Simpson later confided to him that he knew some of the five men with him the night of the robbery had guns.

But Simpson still claims that he never asked anyone to bring guns or saw weapons.

“Mr. Simpson never told me he was going to go to the Palace (Station) hotel with a bunch of thugs, kidnap people, and take property by force,” Galanter said at one point. “To insinuate I, as his lawyer, would have blessed it is insane.”

Galanter received more than $500,000 from Simpson for trial representation and another $125,000 to handle his appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court, according to testimony from other lawyers involved in the case.

But Judge Bell rejected Simpson’s claims.

“Mr. Simpson’s convictions stem from serious offenses,” she wrote, noting the involvement of six co-conspirators and “weeks” of advance planning.

“Mr. Simpson specifically asked two of his co-conspirators to bring weapons … to show the sellers he meant business,” she said. And the two memorabilia dealers were “lured into a small hotel room” where they were surprised by Simpson’s group.

 

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