Finally Squeezed: OJ Simpson Guilty of Robbery in Vegas

OJ Simpson and an associated were found guilty by a jury in a robbery case in Las Vegas. There was no dream team of lawyers that could get him out of trouble this time. He was seen on video and the witnesses were overwhelming and damning.

O.J. Simpson was found guilty late Friday on all 12 counts stemming from a confrontation in a hotel room last year, including armed robbery and kidnapping.

The verdict, which comes 13 years to the day after Mr. Simpson was acquitted in the highly publicized murders of his ex-wife and her friend, concluded a four-week trial that many have seen as a proxy for those unsatisfied by that 1995 outcome.

Mr. Simpson now faces 15 years to life for the kidnapping charge as well as a minimum of at least another 10 years in prison on the other charges. His attorney, Yale Galanter, said he would appeal.

The charges arose from an incident at the Palace Station Hotel-Casino in Vegas when Simpson led five associates into a room to collect hundreds of pieces of sports memorabilia, many of which related to Simpson directly. The room, and its contents, were in the possession of Bruce L. Fromong and Alfred Beardsley, who had been expecting that a prospective buyer was coming to browse the goods.

During the incident, several witnesses claimed that a gun was brandished.

Expect the makeup of the jury to be among the issues on appeal as no African-Americans were on the panel of 9 women and 3 men. He's hoping to claim that the jury was racially motivated. Sure. Let's just ignore the evidence that he committed this crime and blame it on the jury's racial makeup. The other defendant, Clarence Stewart, 54, was found guilty on all charges, but he actually has a stronger case on appeal since the judge repeatedly denied his attorney's requests to sever his case from Simpson's as Simpson's presence was harmful to Stewart's defense as prejudicial.

UPDATE:
Video of the verdict:


O.J. GUILTY ON ALL 12 COUNTS - video powered by Metacafe via Hot Air.