No one is expected to oppose parole for 'model prisoner' OJ Simpson
O.J. Simpson in 1990. Vicki L. Miller / Shutterstock.com
O.J. Simpson has a good chance of winning parole for his armed robbery conviction during a hearing in Nevada on Thursday, according to one of his former lawyers and other experts.
No one is expected to oppose Simpson’s October release, and his good prison record bodes well for for the former football superstar’s chances, report the Associated Press, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and USA Today. Simpson, 70, will appear at the parole hearing via videoconference.
Even Simpson is optimistic, according to his friend, Tom Scotto, who spoke with USA Today. Simpson told Scotto, “We’ll be playing golf again soon,” Scotto said.
Simpson has been in prison for nine years. He was granted parole on charges of kidnapping, robbery and burglary in 2013, but he wasn’t eligible for parole on charges of armed robbery and assault with a weapon until this year, according to AP.
Simpson was convicted in 2008 for leading a group of armed men into a Las Vegas hotel room of memorabilia dealers and taking some items Simpson said had been stolen from him.
Yale Galanter, who represented Simpson in the 2008 trial, tells USA Today he believes Simpson will get parole. “Parole in the state of Nevada is really based on how you behave in prison, and by all accounts he’s been a model prisoner,” Galanter said.
Parole is largely based on a point system, according to Galanter and the Associated Press. Factors include the prisoner’s employment history, offense type, history of drug or alcohol use, gender, age, gang membership and disciplinary conduct.
Not everyone thinks it’s a given that Simpson will be granted parole. Among them is New York defense lawyer Michael Shapiro, who provided commentary for the 2008 armed robbery trial and Simpson’s 1995 acquittal in the death’s of his ex-wife and her friend.
“The judge believed he got away with murder,” Shapiro told AP. “That’s the elephant in the room. If the parole authorities feel the same way, he could be in trouble.”
