I Thought Money was Supposed to Buy Justice
December 8th, 2008Sometimes the Evidence Matters
Finally, the information is on the web. A friend of O.J. Simpson’s says the deal he rejected was for three years in jail.
I’m not a criminal lawyer, but I would guess that when you accept a sentence in a plea bargain, you remain entitled to things like time off for good behavior, as well as parole. Correct me if I’m wrong. So O.J. could probably have been out in maybe a year. In Florida, he could have gone home in six months. We purge our jails twice a year, because if we didn’t, most of us would be living there right now.
The article says Simpson “and his lawyers” rejected the deal. Surely that doesn’t mean what it seems to mean. Surely the lawyers didn’t back Simpson on this horrendous decision. My father and I discussed this case the other day, and it seemed to him that it might be unethical to go along with a client in Simpson’s position who rejected a nice plea. O.J. was recorded conspiring to commit robbery. O.J. was recorded DURING the robbery. Hello? There was video of him entering and leaving the hotel. He was filmed bragging about the robbery later. If Yale Galanter thought a non-ghetto Las Vegas jury was going to let his client go free, I would truly like to know how he came to that conclusion.
Old news stories say O.J. was planning an acquittal party before the jury dropped the bomb on him. What goes on in this man’s head? Discussing the negotiations, the prosecutor said Simpson wanted something “just short of a public apology.”
Most people do something really stupid once in a while, but generally, when we realize we’ve stepped in it, we wise up. A smart person will search himself and repent sincerely; even a fool will try to avoid making things worse. What are you if you can’t even manage that?
O.J. Simpson, I guess.
December 8th, 2008 at 10:09 AM
I suppose, if he’s gotten away with murder, he must figure he can get away with anything.
December 8th, 2008 at 11:16 AM
Sociopathic malignant narcissists are always the hero of their own novel; and everyone is conspiring against them.
It’s just their world view. Everything they do is automatically right, and virtuous, because they did it. Everything everyone else does that is not in service to them is wrong.
Everything anyone else does against them is a great evil and must be punished; and this is of course self evidently true to everyone not fooled by the evil transgressor.
Other human beings are simply not “real” to them. They are mannequins or at best actors in their play; and the director and star gets very upset when the actors don’t play their parts.
I wish I were joking, or exaggerating, but I’m not.
December 8th, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I practiced criminal law for a while – the courts forced us to take appointed cases. No matter how one gets a sentence, the same rules apply. As for the lawyers, all they can do is make recommendations. If the client demands a trial, they must go along. Unless they are allowed to withdraw.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:18 PM
I had heard on the radio that it was the other way around. OJ and his attorneys petitioned for a three-year plea deal, and the prosecutor and the judge both denied it. That makes more sense to me. Then again, I’m not really paying that much attention to the whole story.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:57 PM
It is certainly not legal to punish a person for a crime for which the trial resulted in an acquittal, at some later date when he does another bad thing. But I just can’t work up great sympathy for OJ on this.
December 9th, 2008 at 10:44 AM
km, he did, after all, commit armed robbery, etc.
December 9th, 2008 at 3:55 PM
Too bad he didn’t pull this stunt in South Carolina. We’ve got nice little signs up in all the convenience stores and gas stations reminding folks that a conviction for armed robbery carries a mandatory sentence of 7 years of hard labor.
From what I’ve heard, though, he’s getting most of his potential time for the kidnapping charge.