Acquitted-but-not-innocent double murderer O.J. Simpson may spend the rest of his life in jail after being convicted in a bizarre armed robbery.
Former gridiron great O.J. Simpson was found guilty Friday of all 12 counts in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas, Nevada, casino hotel last year. Simpson, 61, and his co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, 54, were charged with a dozen offenses stemming from the sports memorabilia heist. Stewart was found guilty of the same charges as Simpson.
Simpson sat quietly and showed little emotion at the defense table as courtroom clerk Sandra Jeter read the verdicts.
After the verdicts were read, deputies immediately handcuffed Simpson and led him out of the courtroom.
Simpson and Stewart could spend the rest of their lives in prison for these convictions. Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass set sentencing for December 5.
Noteworthy here was a different jury demographic than he faced in his murder trial:
The jury of nine men and three women, none of them African-American, reached its verdict after 13 hours of deliberations Friday. Jurors heard from 22 witnesses over 12 days of testimony. Chief among the witnesses were seven of the nine people inside Room 1203 of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino for the September 13, 2007, confrontation.
The evidence included testimony from the two dealers, four co-defendants who cut plea deals and cooperated with prosecutors, and hours of often-profane, crackling, secretly recorded audiotapes.
A truly odd case all around, with Simpson apparently robbing some rather seedy characters to get back things which belonged to him but rightfully belonged to the families of his victims, who successfully sued him in civil court for damages resulting from the double homicide.
And, yes, this trial ended 13 years to the day from his infamous acquittal.
