Again. This time, remarkably, no one was killed. So far, Las Vegas looks like it knows what it’s doing. Let’s hope they can get right what Marcia Clark and her gang so pathetically screwed up 13 years ago.
O.J. Simpson to Stand Trial in Vegas
(LAS VEGAS)— O.J. Simpson must face trial on kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges stemming from a suspected sports memorabilia heist, a justice of the peace ruled Wednesday, despite fierce defense attacks that characterized prosecution witnesses as con artists and crooks out for a buck.
Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure ruled that all charges in the 12-count complaint would remain against Simpson and co-defendants Clarence “C.J.” Stewart and Charles “Charlie” Ehrlich. The case stemmed from a Sept. 13 confrontation in a casino hotel room from which Simpson and a group of men are accused of stealing items from two sports memorabilia dealers.
“This is what we expected,” Simpson told The Associated Press before he left the courtroom. “If I have any disappointment, it’s that I wish a jury was here. As always, I rely on the jury system.”
Spoken like a true killer who beat the system. Here’s to the Butcher of Brentwood having a distinctively different experience, and outcome, this time.
OJ really stepped in it this time. Las Vegas ain’t Brentwood, and it definitely ain’t downtown Los Angeles. If you’ve got a 12-count indictment in Las Vegas, they ain’t foolin’ around.
But he’s going home to play golf for two weeks before he has to return for his Nov. 28 arraignment. With a 12-count indictment? Why is he still walking the streets? Somebody please explain that to me.
Ballistic, it’s not an indictment. If Nevada is like most states outside the northeast, they most likely only use grand-jury indictment for capital cases. Nevada calls the charging document a complaint: I’m not exactly sure if that’s what in Florida we’d call a probable cause affidavit (sworn to by the arresting officers) or an information (which is more formal and sworn to by a prosecutor).
Why is he still walking the streets? My understanding is that his total bail for all 12 counts was $125,000. Therefore, if he’s out, it’s either because he somehow came up with that money himself, or because he came up with enough (typically 10%) sufficient to secure a surety bond from a bail bondsman. This in turns raises two questions: 1) why only $125,000? In Florida, kidnapping with a firearm, a life felony, is not an offense where the defendant is typically entitled to bail at all. 2) That aside, how can he have the funds to bond out? His primary asset is his house somewhere down here in south Florida: it’s protected from being seized to satisfy the Goldman family’s judgment against him by Florida’s homestead exemption. But I would think that if any money of his entered Nevada, the Goldmans would immediately seek to attach those funds.
Dave J,
Thanks for information about the complaint.
As for why he’s still walking the streets, I should’ve known better than to ask. I know, and you know, and everyone else knows why he’s still walking the streets:
HE’S OJ SIMPSON!