Posted on 09/17/2007 7:09:08 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LAS VEGAS - News conferences, a slew of felony charges, a perp walk in handcuffs and detention in a holding cell without bail — it's clear authorities aren't giving O.J. Simpson any celebrity breaks.
Police insist such treatment is prudent for a man whose name is synonymous with a slow-speed chase from officers in a white Ford Bronco. But legal experts are questioning whether Simpson is being singled out for extra-tough prosecution in his casino-hotel robbery case as payback for his murder acquittal more than a decade ago.
"It is regrettable that America has not gotten over the O.J. Simpson criminal case," said Carl Douglas, who was co-counsel with Johnnie L. Cochran in Simpson's 1995 criminal trial.
"The fact that he is being held without bail seems unfair and over the top," Douglas said. "O.J. has always been able to satisfy his obligations to the court. He cooperated with the authorities in this case. He is not a flight risk. And he certainly can't hide anywhere."
At least six plainclothes policemen, accompanied by a handful of hotel security guards, arrested Simpson on Sunday at The Palms casino-hotel. He was accused of leading an armed heist of sports memorabilia. Simpson said he was only reclaiming possessions that had been stolen.
"By our standard, there was no major show of force," Sgt. John Loretto said.
Simpson was handcuffed and taken in a police vehicle to the Clark County Detention Center to be booked on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. If convicted of the charges, he could get up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone.
Simpson became inmate number 2648927.
Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith, who made the decision to hold Simpson without bail, was "concerned about the flight factor" and because Simpson had no ties to the Las Vegas area, said Judge Nancy Oesterle, who addressed reporters on Monday.
Arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer, said he was preparing a bond motion and will ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance.
"If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now," he said.
"You can't rob something that is yours," Galanter said. "O.J. said, 'You've got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.'"
Police said they were giving Simpson no special treatment — other than keeping him separated from the rest of the general prison population for his own protection.
In June 1994, Los Angeles police gave Simpson a day and a time to turn himself in to face allegations he had killed ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. It was a courtesy, said then-prosecutor Marcia Clark, often extended to celebrities or those with no criminal record.
Instead, Simpson jumped in an SUV, apparently with a loaded gun and ready to commit suicide, and led police and media helicopters on a dramatic, televised chase before surrendering.
"The Bronco chase was a nightmare," said Clark, now a special correspondent for "Entertainment Tonight." "Certainly he has abused that courtesy, so I would not expect anyone to extend it to him again."
In a clear misstatement, Capt. James Dillon said Friday at a news conference that, because Simpson was involved, police were being extra careful to conduct "a thorough, biased and competent investigation."
But some think it might have been more than a slip of the tongue.
Jerry Reisman, a New York lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson in the early 1990s in business and real estate matters, said the public and law enforcement "are looking for some sort of conviction for those who want justice for Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. Everyone wants to be the one that gets him."
Experts also raised questions about the decision to release a man who police said carried a gun in the alleged holdup of two collectors at a Palace Station casino hotel room.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., was released without bail, despite facing charges almost identical to Simpson's. Legal experts said that may indicate his testimony could be key to convicting Simpson.
On Monday, another man suspected in the alleged heist surrendered, police said. Clarence Stewart, 35, of Las Vegas, lived at one of the residences that police searched early Sunday to recover some of the memorabilia. Stewart turned over some of the missing goods, including footballs bearing autographs, Lt. Clint Nichols said.
Stewart was held on six felony charges: two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. He was awaiting a bail decision.
An apparent audiotape of O.J. Simpson's standoff with men he accused of stealing his memorabilia begins with the former NFL star demanding, "Don't let nobody out of here."
"Think you can steal my s--- and sell it?" the voice identified as Simpson's said, in a recording released by celebrity news Web site TMZ.com.
A big hurdle for prosecutors will also be determining who owned the memorabilia — everything from cleats worn by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, to autographed baseballs, and Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate.
Bruce Fromong, one of the sports memorabilia dealers who said he was robbed, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday that the items did not belong to Simpson.
"If you're asking did they once belong to him, yes, they did," Fromong said. "But these were things that belonged to him a long time ago."
In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica returned $33.5 million in judgments against Simpson in a wrongful-death lawsuit by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
David Cook, an attorney for Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, said he intended to file requests in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday to obtain ownership of the seized sports memorabilia for sale to satisfy the judgment.
"We're going to presume that the bulk of the stuff is probably in police custody," Cook said Monday by telephone from San Francisco. He said other key items were a gold Rolex watch and the suit that he Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted.
"Assuming that this case is resolved one way or another, at the end of the case, the stuff will never go back to Mr. Simpson," Cook vowed. "He's going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed."
Thomas Mesereau Jr., the defense attorney who represented Michael Jackson in a high-profile trial two years ago, said of the Simpson arrest: "This is the kind of case that will test how fair and professional our legal system is. When you have such a groundswell of dislike for someone, you have to make sure they are treated like anyone else."
___
Associated Press Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch and AP writers John Antczak in Los Angeles, and Ken Ritter and Kathleen Hennessey in Las Vegas contributed to this report.
Yeah. Right.
An SUV advertising bail bonds drives past the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. A judge ordered O.J. Simpson held without bail. Las Vegas court information officer Michael Sommermeyer said Simpson's arraignment was set for Wednesday, with a bail hearing to be held after that. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
This file image, originally supplied by Beaufort Books, shows the book jacket cover of 'If I Did It,' O.J. Simpson's ghost-written, hypothetical story of how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. On Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007, the family of the slain Goldman published a book about the killings. (AP Photo/Beaufort Books)
¡Viva Las Vegas!
BEST LINE IN ARTICLE: He is not a flight risk. BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA....
He should have stayed clean. How impossibly difficult would that have been?
opposite extreme alert.
No he didn't. And they have that on tape, along with several OJ media interviews. The guy is an idiot. He can't back track and change his story now. Any lawyer with half a brain would stay away from this case, there is no way he will ever get paid. But I guess there is always a lawyer who will take it for the publicity.
guitly or innocent, OJ's guitly, cause the mounties always get their man.
I wonder how many autographs he’s given out while in custody.
has lewis farrakhan’s beeper gone off?
. 
No, Mr. Douglas, it is regrettable that defense lawyers were successful in convincing a majority black jury to shirk their duty as citizens by ignoring the preponderance of evidence in order to save a celebrity black athlete from paying his debt to society. This was a bad day for American society and the black citizenry within.
Only in the topsy-turvy world of celebrity "justice" would a previous acquittal be considered grounds for leniency!
Well, well, well. What do we see here? A very mean, angry dude, who uses violence to solve problems. A person who puts disproportionate and inappropriate value on symbolic things. And what was Nicole to him at that point but a symbolic object?
Calling Judge Ito,calling Judge Ito,OJ’s in trouble again and needs you to preside over his NEW court case,otherwise he may have to actually go to jail for the cime he committed !!!
The slogan “What happens in LV stays in LV” is not true … the world is being subjected to ‘OJ ALL DAY’, even though it happened LV.
I don’t care … until the final verdict comes in. Otherwise, keep it to yourselves LV.
The world is going to hell in a hand basket and all we hear on the news is OJ. What about the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. What about world hunger, Darfur and other points of human suffering.
What about the conflict over world religious beliefs and …
And yet our illustrious news services are concerned more about the killer OJ and his stupidity than other truly important news.
/rant off
You can only drive a golf cart so fast...
Just heard the latest audio tape that has been released on Fox News. It was an ugly scene in that hotel room. O.J. is not going to be able to make the case that he walked into that room and politely asked for his stuff back.
If guns had been actually drawn when they busted into the hotel room, there are going to be some serious charges filed and O.J. will probably get some serious jail time. I doubt that he will get a friendly jury in Las Vegas.
The stuff didn't even really belong to him! LOL
We have seen murders and drug dealers get off with lighter sentences. My guess after 18 months of pre-pre-pre and trial he's out.
Don't bet the farm on that....
LV is approx. 15% black, and every survey I've seen show a majority of blacks STILL "believe" OJ was innocent of the murders....
His lawyers will see to it that as many blacks as possible are seated on the Jury... All they need is enough to vote Not Guilty - out of belief or fear of returning to the "hood" after convicting the black hero - and OJ walks again....
...perhaps because O.J. is no longer celebrated (except by ratings-starved all-news stations).
Ya see the only problem with that is the jurors in LA didn't think he was innocent. That wasn't even the issue there. They voted and came to a decision strictly on racial lines. That's all that mattered.
You bet they will. Same exact thing they did in LA. Lots of cop haters out there, both white and black, and millions of other angry people that feel the system has burned them.
Notice I put “innocent” in quotes....
That’s polite for black racists who wouldn’t have convicted OJ if they had witnessed the killing with their own lying eyes.....
It was a racist jury Nullification from the get go...
But legal experts are questioning whether Simpson is being singled out for extra-tough prosecution in his casino-hotel robbery case as payback for his murder acquittal more than a decade ago.
He's not getting extra breaks=extra tough prosecution?
I don't think so, but I guess for a spoiled pampered elite celebrity who's not used to having the same rules for the unwahed masses apply to him, being treated like everybody else for a change must seen like extra-tough treatment.
Pooooooooorrrrr Baaaaabbbyyyyy
The cops in Las Vegas probably believe like the rest of us do; that O.J. got away with a very horrific murder, and that a racist ghetto jury did a nullification and let him go.
Secondly, I do not for a second believe that Mark Furhman deserved the treatment he got in court, and I suspect that many cops in Las Vegas feel the same, and have little admiration for O.J. If I recall correctly, he has made some unkind statements about the police in the past.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Yep, they could of had video from 8 different angles of him committing the murders and they would have questioned the lighting, evidence chain of command and would have ultimately alleged LAPD tampered with the video.
“If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now,” he said.”
It was OJ Simpson, so what is his point? OJ doesn’t want special treatment now?
After the trial, he wants to be put in the general population at a prison?
Nobody naw give you no break
Police naw give you no break
Soldier naw give you no break
Not even you idren naw give you no break
Bad boys bad boys
Watcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do
when they come for you
Bad boys, bad boys
Watcha gonna do, watcha gonna do
when they come for you
If OJ walks on this one.....due to black jury Nullification ...assuming the DA doesn’t make his case, it will will be an eye opening event.
It would demonstrate as few things could, the failure of far too many of America’s black citizens to apply and allow themselves to become Americans in every sense of the word, even after all the Civil Rights legislation, integration, Affirmative Action, set asides, extensive and varied direct payment welfare programs, designating MLK’s birthday as a singularly more significant man in America’s history than ANY of our Founders.
It would be a disastrous event.
It would validate the “it’s them or us” attitude, as reflected in their near 100% support of the leftist Democrat party — who promises them more and more to keep them on the “modern plantation” of misery...and dependence.
Already happened. There was a mountain of evidence in the double homicide trial. He walked. Can't get much worse than that.
Many in the business thought he was going to plead to manslaughter charges in the beginning, going for 12 years or so. When he pleaded not guilty, and then was found innocent...Well, eyes can't possibly get any wider.
In this case, I think they'll find him guilty, and he'll only do a couple of years. Then again, it'll depends on the jury, and how many they get in the jury box with revenge against the system, or racial agendas.
Didn't Trent Lott say similar thing in the Senate about Clinton when impeached???
Bump for poor OJ (unbelievable)
Blood in his Bronco. Blood in his house. Blood all over the place. His wife's head nearly cut off. The police never had anyone else as a suspect. The damning note written by Simpson before he attempted to flee. The Bronco "chase" fiasco. His passport and cash and disguise in hand. The unexplained cut on his hand. Simpson's history of abusing his wife.
Vincent Bugliosi covers all the bases in his book Outrage about a celebrity who got away with two brutal murders.
There is no way to forget this miscarriage of justice. It will haunt decent Americans for all time.
It will forever remind us our criminal justice system does not protect us, is dysfunctional and does not deserve our respect.
Are they trying to imply that he’s being mistreated because he’s being treated like the rest of us?
Just goes to show ya: murder someone and it'll come back to bite ya.
LOL! Tell that to the Goldmans and Browns.
>>They voted and came to a decision strictly on racial lines. That’s all that mattered.<<
As Rush pointed out, the jury decided that saying the “n” word is worse than murdering two white people.
Gee, are the victims less dead?
Are the Browns and Glodmans over it yet? Isn't 13 years enough time to forget about your child being nearly decapitated by a guy who struts around basically bragging he did and go away with it?
I hope they get him for this and get him good. Karma's a b&*%h!
As Rush pointed out, the jury decided that saying the “n” word is worse than murdering two white people. _______________________________________________________________
Bottom line, end of story....
I know...that's why I put "believe" in quotations...
They KNEW he was guilty, but simply didn't want to convict another black man and send him to prison....
It is no longer only a "race" thing.....it is now gang culture and gang rules...
No snitching, No convicting, No nothin - whitey's way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.