Simpson & Co-Defendant Argue for Bail, Separate Trial Based on His Notoriety
In arguments today before Nevada’s top court, a lawyer for O.J. Simpson and a co-defendant rested their respective cases on a similar basis—his notoriety.
Simpson isn’t a flight risk, if he is released on bail while appealing his kidnapping and robbery conviction, attorney Yale Galanter told a three-judge panel of the state supreme court, because he would be recognized and followed by photographers anywhere he goes, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Meanwhile, Brent Bryson, a lawyer for co-defendant C.J. Stewart, asked the panel to reverse a trial judge’s decision not to grant his client a separate trial.
“In the history of jurisprudence, who would be more prejudicial to sit next to?” he asked the panel. “Charles Manson, maybe? [Jeffrey] Dahmer? Hitler? Satan?”
As discussed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, the 62-year-old football legend was sentenced in December to between 9 and 33 years in prison for his role in a 2007 armed robbery of sports memorabilia from a Las Vegas casino hotel room. Simpson has denied that he had a gun and said he was seeking to reclaim his own property.
He was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her male companion more than a decade ago, after a highly publicized televised trial, but subsequently found liable for damages in their deaths in a civil action.
Additional and related coverage:
Associated Press: “Nevada Supreme Court considers releasing Simpson”
Los Angeles Times: “Nevada justices cool to O.J. Simpson’s request for bail”
ABAJournal.com: “O.J. Simpson’s ‘Lucky Suit’ Is Discovered, Custody of Iconic Apparel Is Sought”
ABAJournal.com: “OJ Simpson Sentenced in ‘Two-Tiered’ Nevada System”
