Simpson Will Do at Least Nine Years Behind Bars

I watched O.J. Simpson's sentencing this morning.

I was reading online and looked up a few minutes after CNN had begun broadcasting the drama from the courtroom of Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass. Judge Glass previewed her ruling with an emphatic and riveting statement that her decision was in no way influenced by events 13 years ago, when Simpson was aquitted in his trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. She proceeded deliberately to hand down sentences for Simpson and his accomplice, Clarence Stewart. The reading was legalistic, with the sentences announced in months (rather than years), so it took me a couple of seconds to figure out the terms of incarceration. On the main counts, first for Stewart, then Simpson, it sounded like 15 years in Nevada's correctional facilities with a possibility of parole after about five years.

In the end, as the Los Angeles Times reports, Simpson will do at least nine years behind bars for the kidnapping and robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas.

Especially dramatic was when CNN showed a picture-in-picture image of Fred Goldman, Ronald's father, along with other family members:

Among those in the courtroom to hear the sentencing was Fred Goldman, whose son was slain alongside Simpson's ex-wife in 1994. Simpson was tried for the murders but acquitted in 1995. Two years later, a civil jury found him liable for their wrongful deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to their families. During the trial, prosecutors argued Simpson's desire to avoid paying the judgment led to the Las Vegas incident. He stashed mementos with friends to keep them out of the hands of the Goldmans, whom he nicknamed the "gold diggers," and then became frustrated when they were not returned, the prosecutors claimed.

The judge took pains to say that the sentencing was not "payback" for the 1995 acquittal, as Simpson's attorneys have suggested. Glass said that as a judge, she respected the Los Angeles jury's decision.

"There are many people who disagree with that verdict, but that doesn't matter to me," she said.

Be sure to check out the Times' photo gallery, which includes images of Simpson begging for leniency.