LAS VEGAS — O.J. Simpson’s lawyer told a panel of Nevada Supreme Court justices yesterday that the former football star’s conviction in a gunpoint hotel room heist amounted to prejudicial “payback’’ for Simpson’s 1994 double-murder acquittal.
“This was not a search for truth but became a search for redemption,’’ attorney Yale Galanter said as he pleaded for the court panel to overturn Simpson’s conviction and grant a new trial in the September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.
Questions from the justices focused on the racial makeup of the jury and the conduct of the trial judge. A ruling by the court is not expected until later this year.
“Mr. Simpson really believed he was recovering his own property,’’ Galanter said. “Our theory of defense was never put before the jury.’’
