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jrknothead
News Junkie
Joined: Aug 04, 2007
Age: 42
Posts: 1110
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida USA
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 Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 1:15 pm Post subject: Simpson Found Guilty In Armed Robbery-Kidnapping |
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Simpson Found Guilty In Armed Robbery-Kidnapping
| Quote: | LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after he was acquitted of murder in 1995, was found guilty Friday of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.
Simpson, 61, could spend the rest of his life in prison.
A weary and somber Simpson released a heavy sigh as the charges were read by the clerk in Clark County District Court. He was immediately taken into custody.
The Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 12 other charges for gathering up five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun.
The verdict came 13 years to the day after Simpson was cleared of murdering his ex-wife and a friend of hers in Los Angeles in one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century.
Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, also was found guilty on all charges and taken into custody.
Simpson showed little emotion as officers handcuffed him and walked him out of the courtroom. His sister, Carmelita Durio, sobbed behind him.
From the beginning, Simpson and lawyers argued the incident was not a robbery, but an attempt to reclaim mementos that had been stolen from him. He said he did not ask anyone to bring a weapon and did not see any guns.
The defense portrayed Simpson as a victim of shady characters who wanted to make a buck off his famous name, and police officers who saw his arrest as an opportunity to "get" him and avenge his acquittal.
Prosecutors said Simpson's ownership of the memorabilia was irrelevant; it was still a crime to try to take things by force.
"When they went into that room and forced the victims to the far side of the room, pulling out guns and yelling, `Don't let anybody out of here!' - six very large people detaining these two victims in the room with the intent to take property through force or violence from them - that's kidnapping," prosecutor David Roger said.
Kidnapping is punishable by five years to life in prison. Armed robbery carries a mandatory sentence of at least two years behind bars, and could bring as much as 30.
Simpson, who now lives in Miami, did not testify but was heard on a recording of the confrontation screaming that the dealers had stolen his property. "Don't let nobody out of this room," he declared and told the other men to scoop up his items, which included a photo of Simpson with former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
Four other men charged in the case struck plea bargains that saved them from potential prison sentences in return for their testimony. Some of them had criminal records or were otherwise compromised in some way. One, for example, was an alleged pimp who testified he had a revelation from God telling him to take a plea bargain.
Memorabilia dealer Thomas Riccio, who arranged and secretly recorded the hotel-room confrontation, said he netted $210,000 from the media for the tapes.
Similarly, minutes after the Sept. 13, 2007, incident, one of the alleged victims, sports-memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, was calling news outlets, and the other, Bruce Fromong, spoke of getting "big money" from the case.
Simpson's past haunted the case. Las Vegas police officers were heard in the recordings chuckling over Simpson's misfortune and crowing that if Los Angeles couldn't "get" him, they would.
During jury selection, Simpson's lawyers expressed fears that people who believed he got away with murder might see this case as a chance to right a wrong.
As a result, an usually large pool of 500 potential jurors was called, and they were given a 26-page questionnaire. Half were almost instantly eliminated after expressing strong feelings that Simpson should have been convicted of murder.
The judge instructed the jurors to put aside Simpson's earlier case.
In closing arguments, defense attorney Yale Galanter acknowledged that what Simpson did to recover his memorabilia was not right. "But being stupid, and being frustrated is not being a criminal," he said.
He added: "This case has taken on a life of its own because of Mr. Simpson's involvement. You know that. I know that. Every cooperator, every person who had a gun, every person who had an ulterior motive, every person who signed a book deal, every person who got paid money, the police, the district attorney's office, is only interested in one thing: Mr. Simpson."
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Never let your schooling interfere with your education. - Samuel Clemens |
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slowmutant
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Age: 29
Posts: 8640
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Sooner or later, I knew it would happen. You reap what you sow. |
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Fnord
Metasyntactic Variable
Joined: May 07, 2008
Posts: 3658
Location: Pantopia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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This time, the glove fit.
_________________
The leaders of the American automobile industry have been amazingly consistent in their management philosophy, in that they have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. |
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slowmutant
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 14, 2008
Age: 29
Posts: 8640
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Indeed. |
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Dox47
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 29, 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 711
Location: Bainbridge Island
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:16 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know if anyone else reads Andy Borowitz, he has a satirical website kind of like the Onion, only funny. This is his take on the verdict:
O.J. Seeks Bailout
| Quote: | Juice: Incarceration Would Hurt Cable Nets' Bottom Line
Minutes after being convicted of robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas, former football great O.J. Simpson said he would seek government intervention, claiming that his imprisonment would cost the nation's cable news networks untold billions of dollars.
"My three trials have generated billions of dollars for the cable TV industry, not to mention the tabloids," Mr. Simpson told reporters outside the Las Vegas courthouse. "All those billions go away if I go away."
Mr. Simpson made his case for the government bailing him out of jail, arguing that as long as he is a free man he is likely to become involved in other criminal cases that could generate much-needed television revenue.
"As long as the Juice is loose, there's no telling what trouble I'll get into," he promised. "And that means one thing to the TV networks: cold hard cash."
The former Heisman Trophy winner said that with the nation's economy teetering on recession, the U.S. could ill afford "putting a major financial asset like O.J. Simpson out of circulation."
"You'll see, the cable networks will miss me, and their bottom lines will show it," he said. "They can't keep reporting about Lindsay Lohan being a lesbian forever."
At the University of Minnesota's School of Law, professor Davis Logsdon said there is "a valuable lesson to be learned" from Mr. Simpson's conviction: "Apparently, in America it's easier to get away with murder than stealing sports memorabilia." |
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Consider the source of this advice... |
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Quatermass
Deranged scientist
Joined: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 17246
Location: The Crucible
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 9:24 pm Post subject: |
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Boo hoo. It would be better for society if he was in jail. And tabloids should try and offer his cellmates money for getting a confession (to the Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman murders) out of his sorry arse.
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People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become... nothing. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality itself! |
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Fnord
Metasyntactic Variable
Joined: May 07, 2008
Posts: 3658
Location: Pantopia
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Quatermass wrote: | | Boo hoo. It would be better for society if he was in jail. And tabloids should try and offer his cellmates money for getting a confession (to the Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman murders) out of his sorry arse. |
I think Bubba & Co. will have other things in mind for Orenthal's sorry arse...
_________________
The leaders of the American automobile industry have been amazingly consistent in their management philosophy, in that they have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity. |
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oscuria
Verbal Guerrilla
Joined: Feb 01, 2008
Posts: 2066
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| Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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INNOCENT! INNOCENT!
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I'm no democRAT, I'm a republiCAN! |
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Quatermass
Deranged scientist
Joined: Apr 28, 2006
Posts: 17246
Location: The Crucible
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| Fnord wrote: | | Quatermass wrote: | | Boo hoo. It would be better for society if he was in jail. And tabloids should try and offer his cellmates money for getting a confession (to the Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman murders) out of his sorry arse. |
I think Bubba & Co. will have other things in mind for Orenthal's sorry arse...
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While being someone's jail bitch is a fate richly deserved by that arrogant **** (I am certain that he is guilty of murdering his wife and Goldman, and Mark Fuhrmann should have watched his words more carefully), somehow, I don't think he would keep silent about it. He'd whinge to the prison authorities, and make even more of a palaver.
Of course, if what you're thinking is what Chopper Read describes as being standard punishment for rock spiders (I know OJ isn't a rock spider, but he is not far below one in infamy) in jail, ie, a broom handle where the sun don't shine, then I would think that better than just being a jail bitch.
_________________
People and planets and stars will become dust. And the dust will become atoms and the atoms will become... nothing. This is my ultimate victory, Doctor! The destruction of reality itself! |
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Tim_Tex
WP's Resident Simpsons and South Park Aficionado
Joined: Jul 03, 2004
Age: 28
Posts: 22319
Location: San Marcos, Texas
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:29 am Post subject: |
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The verdict came 13 years to day of his acquittal in the Brown-Goldman murders.
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When you need something, that's a responsibility, that only an adult...of my maturity...Bunnies!!!
~Meatwad, Aqua Teen Hunger Force |
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