There’s a huge good chance that former NFL great O.J. Simpson will be a free man by the end of 2017.
Simpson was convicted in October 2008 on 12 counts that included conspiracy, burglary, kidnapping, robbery, assault and coercion, all with a deadly weapon for his role in a October 2007 robbery attempt in a Las Vegas hotel room.
In the robbery, Simpson took hundreds of pieces of memorabilia from two men and brandished a gun during the incident. Simpson says he was trying to retrieve items that belonged to him which included family photos.
Simpson is scheduled for a hearing in front of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners in Carson City, Nevada tomorrow via video from the Lovelock Correctional Institution.
What’s Simpson to do for work when and if he’s released?
“It’s no secret that the league has been trying to rehabilitate its social image in recent years in the wake of numerous domestic violence controversies and countless player arrests, says Randy McInnis, founder of Sports Betting Dime.
“Simpson’s past screams stay-away for any and all organizations that are trying to win the public-relations game.”
McInnis added:
“Plus, outside of his obvious fame/notoriety — which would do more harm than good for a potential employer — it’s not clear what services Simpson could offer. He has no real coaching experience, isn’t known as a talent-evaluator, and has, let’s say, a dicey relationship with the media.”
That said, McInnis and Sports Betting Dime set the odds of Simpson ever working for the NFL (or any of its teams) in an official capacity at no greater than 99/1 (1% chance).
On the legal side for Simpson, if a simple majority of the four commissioners vote in favor of parole, Simpson will be released in early October.
The parole board will give judgment on Simpson based upon his time spent in the Nevada facility and not based upon the murder case in the 90s.
Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was acquitted on the murder charges but lost a $33.5 million judgment in civil court for the deaths of Brown and Goldman.
Simpson’s former defense attorney Alan Dershowitz appeared on an episode of Scoop B Radio. He reminisced about his time with the defense team that included Robert Shapiro, F.Lee Bailey, Robert Kardashian, Gerald Uelmen, Carl E. Douglas and Johnnie Cochran. Apparently all was not well during the time. ”A lot of people were competing for the limelight,” Bailey told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson.
“I just wanted to get out of there because California trials are an imposition on anybody that gets wrapped up in them. The Patty Hearst case was worth three weeks of trial; indeed that was forecast. It was wrapped up in three months even in a Federal court. The O.J. case might have been three months total, it took over a year. That’s pretty unnerving for someone who has other clients to worry about, other places to be.”
One of Simpson’s other attorneys Alan Dershowitz praised Johnnie Cochran: “He really was in charge,” Alan Dershowitz told Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson of Cochran.
“That sent a powerful message to people watching. That also sent a powerful message to the jury. So I had worked with lots and lots of African American lawyers before, but this is a case where some of the world’s prominent white lawyers in the country, F. Lee Bailey, Bob Shapiro, Barry Scheck were all working for our leader who was an African lawyer, he was the leader, Johnnie Cochran.”
Simpson’s parole hearing for his October 2008 conviction is scheduled for tomorrow. Oct. 1 is his earliest release date. According to ESPN, Simpson will likely be granted permission to leave Nevada, but he must maintain contact with his probation officer, and the Nevada Board of Parole would communicate with its counterpart in the state in which he chooses to reside.
