OJ Simpson -- Life in Jail? (An Update)

OJ Simpson as been sentenced to up to 33 years in prison. For a 61-year-old this is as good as a life sentence. Some might say this is somewhat poetic justice seeing many believe he was guilty of murdering his ex-wife and her friend but used his celebrity, fame, and money to get himself acquitted in that case. In a perverse twist of irony is that this sentence comes 13 years to the day since he was acquitted of the murder charges.

If the glove fits.

It seems though that OJ Simpson's penchant for believing that he is above the law and then breaking the law has finally caught up with him. His most recent venture, and one that saw him charged with armed robbery and kidnapping, has now landed him a prison sentence that will see him, potentially, in his 90's before he again breathes any air as a free man. That said, the non-parole period is a mere nine years.

If he is well-behaved during those nine years he is likely to be paroled at the first opportunity. This means he will be a sprightly 70 when he has his first chance of getting out.

Simpson will undoubtedly instruct his lawyers to appeal. However, he will stay in jail throughout that process.

OJ Simpson -- Life in Jail?

OJ Simpson will be remembered by most as the bloke that got away with murder. This is in spite of stellar athletic achievements such as winning the Heisman Trophy as the best football player in the college ranks and his pro-football career. It is also in spite of a not so stellar movie career although he was known for his work in movies too.

In a trial that played out with much less fanfare than his murder trial, OJ Simpson and his partner in crime, Clarence Stewart, were found guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping. These charges and now the conviction hold the possibility of a life in jail for Simpson. Many might argue it is about time.

The sentencing is not listed until 5 December 2008. The judge, Jackie Glass, rejected a bail application so it seems that Simpson is destined to spend the time from now until sentencing in jail. The defense has indicated that they will be lodging an appeal. It will be interesting to see what grounds they intend to advance in support of the appeal.

It seems that Simpson is going to pay a high price for his notoriety and his stupidity in being part of an armed robbery to reclaim sports memorabilia from a Las Vegas hotel room. If someone has stolen something from you and you know where it is then it would make sense that you call the local law enforcement officers to come in and take care of it. Most people would not think to form a posse and then take the law into their own hands.

This case turned with the testimony of Simpson's cohorts in the crime. Four of the posse turned State's evidence and struck plea deals and testified against Simpson. The provided their testimony to police long before any of them struck lucrative media deals to spill the beans publicly on Simpson. The defense however tried to paint the four as money grubbing hangers on looking to capitalize on their infamy in a financial way.

It seems that Simpson will do jail time this time around. Many will be hoping for a lengthy jail term. I guess we will find out on 5 December 2008 how much time. This might not be the justice that the families of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman were looking for, but one hopes that there is some small degree of relief for them that Simpson may finally be going to jail albeit for another crime.

OJ Simpson

I just watched this program on OJ Simpson on the Australia Network here in Indonesia. It had interviews with all the players in the trial with regards to the defense team and a lot of the news people involved as well. It was a really interesting program.

There were lots of interesting questions posed on race, race relations, police, fabricating evidence, the role of defense counsel in defending guilty clients, and the main one, did he do it?

The two questions that I was most interested in were the last two. As a lawyer who has worked in criminal defense it is an interesting question to ponder with regards to defending guilty clients. There are plenty of strategies for defending a client. I generally ask my clients if they did it. If they say, no, then that is the end of it. I construct the defense strategy based on the assumption that the client is innocent of the charges being alleged.

If a client answers by saying, yes, then the strategy requires careful considerations in terms of ethical obligations. A defense lawyer must not advance an alternative scenario where they know that the scenario is not possible.

It is worth remembering that it is the prosecution in an adversarial system that must prove the case. The defense's main job is to highlight that there is reasonable doubt in the case being made by the prosecution that would render a guilty verdict unjust. It is not the defense's obligation to prove the prosecutions case for them.

Onto the biggest question of them all, did OJ do it?

Yes.