A Day of Reckoning for the Juice

By Leland C. Abraham, Esq.

O.J. Simpson, a former NFL great and Canton-enshrined National Football League Hall of Famer, was convicted of 10 counts on October 3, 2008 and sentenced on December 5, 2008. Most of the counts that Simpson was convicted and sentenced will run concurrently. Perhaps, the most serious of the counts was attempted armed kidnapping. Nevada State judge Jackie Glass expressed that the sentencing would not reflect Mr. Simpson’s prior case in California. If you did not know, 13 years ago, O.J. Simpson was tried and acquitted of double murder in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Most media outlets have been calling for his head ever since. Many felt that the 9-33 year sentence that he received last week may be retribution for the acquittals 13 years ago.

An examination of the case speaks that O.J. Simpson, along with five other people, robbed Bruce Fromberg and Alfred Beardsley at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in September 2007. Simpson is alleged to have taken items including footballs with his autograph on them. Simpson claims that he was attempting to retrieve personal memorabilia. Whatever the story, a gun was introduced at some point which elevated the attempted retrieval to a punishable felony. Simpson stated during his sentencing that he was not aware that he was committing a crime. Unfortunately for Simpson, the reports from the incident state he, along with the other men who accompanied him, locked the door to the hotel room and then introduced a gun. Because the alleged victims did not have a way to escape the situation, this is considered to be kidnapping in most prosecutorial circles. Many may think that the sentencing of Simpson is retribution for the acquittal in the murder case. However, a review of the sentencing guidelines for kidnapping alone would lead to a different conclusion. In some jurisdictions, kidnapping is considered a capital offense. These crimes usually carry the traditional “25 to life” sentence. In most of these cases, the defendant will have to serve at least 15 years before he is eligible for parole. The minimum that Simpson may serve on this count alone is five years.

The next question may be “should there have been a first-degree kidnapping charge in the original indictment?” According to authorities, once Simpson and the men who accompanied him burst into the hotel room, Simpson is heard on an audiotape saying, “Don’t let nobody out of this room.” This is undoubtedly where the kidnapping charge stems from. This would be all the prosecution would need to secure a conviction of kidnapping because Simpson and his acquaintances entered the room with a weapon and Simpson is heard directing the others to not let anyone out of the room. Because members of Simpson’s team were armed and because he secured five other people, the events that occurred were premeditated, meaning Simpson planned them. The next mistake was directing his team to not let anyone leave the room.

The notion that he thought he was taking what was rightfully his reminds me of the traditional law school scenario. It typically goes, “You lend your favorite watch to your friend with the understanding that he is supposed to return the watch on Wednesday. It is now Sunday and the friend has not returned the watch. You go by his house and no one is home but you peek through the window and see the watch on the coffee table in your friend’s living room. Is it okay to go into your friend’s house to retrieve your watch?” The answer of course is “no.” This would be breaking and entering your friend’s house and depending on the prosecutor, it could be larceny as well. The proper thing to do would be to speak with the friend to get the property back. If that does not work, call a sheriff or other law enforcement officer to see if you can retrieve the property that way. If all of these things fail, you can sue your friend for the return of your property. As the latest Simpson case has shown, when you take matters into your own hands and have your own form of vigilante justice, you end up serving the time.

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