Polarized reactions follow Simpson's conviction
Bizarre twists, coincidences surround trial
LAS VEGAS - In a city where luck means everything, O.J. Simpson came out the big loser, and his unlucky number in a case full of bizarre twists was 13.
He was convicted of an armed robbery that happened on Sept. 13 and was found guilty on the 13th anniversary of his Los Angeles murder acquittal.
The Las Vegas jury deliberated for 13 hours after a 13-day trial. And then, as only the racking sobs of Simpson's sister broke the silence late Friday, the lights went out. Court marshals flipped on flashlights and shouted for everyone to stay seated. Only the judge knew what had happened.
It was 11 p.m., and the courthouse lights had shut down automatically. "Timed out," Judge Jackie Glass said in a fitting epitaph for the story of O.J. Simpson, which has long haunted America.
The 61-year-old Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, and 10 other charges related for gathering five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques, and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun. Once convicted, Simpson, the sports-idol-turned-celebrity-pariah, was handcuffed and led from the room with his co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart. They could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
"There is justice," said attorney Gloria Allred, who has represented the family of his slain former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson. "Justice was delayed, but in this case it was not denied. Now that he may spend the rest of his life in prison, the law, and not O.J. Simpson, will have the last word."
Still, many of those in the courtroom couldn't believe the verdicts. Simpson's sister, Carmelita Durio, fainted. The sister of Tom Scotto, whose wedding precipitated the hotel confrontation, wailed. His wife, Sabrina, wept.
Some observers said the Las Vegas case paled in comparison with the "trial of the century" in 1995, a yearlong opus in which Simpson was acquitted of murdering his former wife and her friend Ronald Goldman.
A rapt nation followed the Los Angeles trial. Tales of a gruesome murder and a bloody glove, as well as the celebrity defendant, drew a media frenzy. In Las Vegas, Simpson's fate played out in a small courtroom dotted with empty seats. Even the stunning verdict came as most of America slept, oblivious to the irony that Simpson might spend the rest of his life in prison for what most perceived as a petty crime.
Simpson's Las Vegas defense tried to tell the jury that the two cases had nothing to do with each other, but it may have been a losing battle.
According to jury questionnaires released yesterday, five of the 12 jurors wrote that they disagreed with the 1995 verdict that cleared Simpson. Most others said they were uncertain or did not answer the question.
Redacted versions of the questionnaires revealed the jury was largely made up of middle-age people who said they paid little or no attention to Simpson's past legal troubles.
Asked about when she first heard of Simpson, 32-year-old Consuelo Saldivar, among the youngest jurors, replied, "A long time ago. I believe he was being chased down a freeway. That's about all I know."
David Wieberg, a 51-year-old manager, was among those who said he disagreed with the 1995 verdict. "No, I don't believe the jury consider[ed] the facts," he wrote. Wieberg also said he agreed with the outcome of the civil trial that found Simpson liable for the deaths.
Jury foreman Paul Connelly, a 41-year-old mechanical engineer, was the only juror to write that he agreed with the 1995 acquittal.
"He was tried and acquitted. It was a separate issue," Connelly wrote. "He was given a fair trial, which resulted in an outcome."
But Laurie Levenson, a Loyola University law professor who attended Simpson's murder trial, said, "I don't know that one trial cancels out the other. People will always be troubled by O.J. For the people troubled by the Los Angeles acquittal, this case will make small amends."
She predicted that Stewart, 54, will have a strong chance for reversal on appeal because he was forced to stand trial beside Simpson.
"O.J. was toxic, and he has been toxic since 1994, and this jury was just ready to clean up the mess," Levenson said.
Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said he felt bad for Simpson but even worse for Stewart, who got dragged along in a campaign to convict Simpson.
Even before the verdict, Simpson appeared resigned that his luck had run out. He had been prepared for the worst, his lawyer said. And in a conversation with a reporter on Thursday, Simpson implied as much, saying, "I'm afraid that I won't get to go to my kids' college graduations after I managed to get them through college." 