Rehearing denied in O.J. Simpson robbery case
The Nevada Supreme Court on Wednesday took brevity to a new level when it responded to a request for a new hearing in the O.J. Simpson case, saying: “Rehearing denied. It is so ordered.”
In September 2007, Simpson led a group of men to a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino and took sports memorabilia, much of which once belonged to Simpson, at gunpoint.
Simpson attorneys Yale Galanter of Florida and Malcolm LaVergne of Las Vegas filed a petition for rehearing in November after a Supreme Court panel decision in which justices affirmed Simpson’s conviction on robbery-related charges. They granted his co-defendant, Clarence Stewart, a new trial.
The arguments presented by Simpson’s attorneys essentially are the same issues they raised in the initial appeal, that Simpson’s own reputation prevents him from receiving a fair trial and that District Judge Jackie Glass misapprehended the law regarding restrictions on jury selection.
Their brief suggests Simpson could never get a fair trial because most Americans “perceive that O.J. Simpson’s name is synonymous for getting away with murder.”
The attorneys argued that Glass did not question jurors thoroughly because of Simpson’s reputation, “which any rational person would conclude that (Simpson) should already have been in prison” for the slayings of his former wife and her friend in the summer of 1994.
The attorneys implied that jurors who thought Simpson guilty of the California murders were still allowed to sit in judgment on the Nevada robbery and kidnapping case. The attorneys also claim Glass allowed improper testimony from a detective who alleged Simpson tried to intimidate witnesses through phone calls he made from the Clark County Detention Center.
However, the attorneys failed to raise sufficient issues to win a new hearing.
Simpson remains in a Nevada prison, where he is serving a potential 33-year sentence after his Oct. 3, 2008, conviction on charges that include robbery and kidnapping.
Stewart was recently released from prison and was placed on probation after the high court determined his trial should have been separate from Simpson’s because of the notoriety behind the double murder case.
Simpson’s earliest possible parole date won’t arrive until 2016.
Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@review
journal.com or 702-224-5512 or read more courts coverage at lvlegalnews.com.