The former football player, film and TV star, O.J. Simpson, has been released after serving nine years imprisonment for armed robberies.
70 year old Simpson was released from a prison in Nevada on Sunday. Earlier, it had been reported that he’d be released on Monday.
‘He’s getting very, very excited,’ said O.J. Simpson’s lawyer, Malcolm LaVergne.
The former American sports hero and actor is now 70 years old. In 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in prison, with probation possible after nine years.
Now the nine years have passed, and initially, according to the prison, Simpson could be paroled already by Monday.
The formal clearance signal was given in July.
Stormed hotel room
Simpson was convicted of having stormed a hotel room in Las Vegas, along with five others, two of whom were armed.
The two men were charged with stealing collectibles from Simpson’s career in American football in the 1970s.
Simpson’s defenders have argued that the verdict for the robbery in Las Vegas was extraordinary to weigh his being acquitted of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
The death penalty case in 1995 received huge media attention in and outside the United States, and led to deep divisions among the public.
The explanation
When the application for probation was filed in July, Simpson stuck to his statement that he had not planned to do anything criminal. He said he’d just wanted to get back his property.
‘If I’d had better judgment at the time, none of this would have happened,’ said Simpson.
Simpson’s lawyer told KTNV TV that Simpson wants to move to Florida to play golf and be with friends and family. The lawyer said he doesn’t think the trial will bring any problems.
‘His behaviour in prison has been impeccable. So I expect it to continue,’ said LaVergne.
Opinion divided the United States
Interest in O.J. Simpson recently gained a new resurgence with a nearly eight-hour documentary ‘OJ: Made in America’, and a mini-series, ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson ‘.
The case revealed a deep race divide in the United States.
When Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of two knife killings, the verdict was accepted with the disbelief by many Americans. But there were many more who believed he was guilty among whites than blacks.
Since then, Simpson was indeed held responsible for the killings in a civil action brought against Simpson by the victims’ families, and he was sentenced to pay $33.5 million in compensation to the families, a figure which has now risen to $60 million.
As he walks free from Nevada to a life of golf under the Florida sun, and down time with friends and family, Simpson can plan his route to payment of 60 million dollars for the cold blooded murder of his ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
