O.J. gets 16 years to life !!!

When he was arraigned [on armed burglary and kidnapping charges], one would’ve been hard-pressed to find a legal pundit who thought O.J. would be convicted.  Instead, they insisted that – because O.J. was allegedly only stealing his own sports memorabilia back and his victims were disreputable con men – no jury would convict him.  But not one of them bothered to advise that taking the law into one’s own hands is never a good idea, or that, just as it is illegal to rape a prostitute, it is equally so to rob a con man.  

By contrast, here, in part, is what I wrote back then

… I predict he’ll be convicted and sentenced to at least 25 years in prison…  I pray he finds God, asks for forgiveness and repents while in prison, where I predict O.J., 61, will now spend the rest of his life.

[Justice delayed, but not denied, for O.J, Simpson, The iPINIONS Journal, October 4, 2008]

O.J. Simpson was never more than a B-movie actor. Therefore, he deserves credit for the Academy-Award performance he gave as he threw himself on the mercy of the court yesterday.   In fact, even the constitutionally dispassionate Judge Jackie Glass – of the Nevada Clark County District Court – was impressed. 

I stand before you today sorry, somewhat confused… I feel apologetic to the people of the state of Nevada… I wasn’t there to hurt anybody… I didn’t want to steal anything from anyone… I was stupid…  I’m sorry, sorry.

Unfortunately, this broken and contrite demeanor stood in such stark contrast to the insolent and arrogant one he displayed throughout the trial (and throughout his life) that the judge evidently found his plea for mercy a little too contrived. 

Because instead of giving him mercy, she told him that, notwithstanding his apparent remorse, she found him to be arrogant, stupid and ignorant. 

“You went to a room, you took guns, you used force, you took property… and in this state that amounts to robbery with use of a deadly weapon.”  (Judge Jackie Glass)

Of course O.J. affecting genuine confusion about what truth and consequences these facts portend only confirmed the judge’s finding that he’s arrogant, stupid and ignorant.

Accordingly, she sentenced him to 16 years to life.  He must serve a minimum of 9 years, but could be required to serve as many as 33 years, which means, given that O.J. is now 61, that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

In this respect, I predict that he will not only lose his pro forma appeal, but that all of his applications for parole will be denied – as vigilant payback for getting away with killing his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Goldman. This, notwithstanding his lawyer’s sympathetic complaint about O.J. being convicted by an all-white jury.  After all, I’m sure the judges on the appellate court are acutely mindful that he was acquitted of those murders by an all-black jury…. 

Karma: it’s a bitch!

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Justice delayed, but not denied, for O.J. Simpson