Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Simpson has good chance for parole this year, public defender says

O.J. Simpson Hearing: May 17, 2013

Ethan Miller / AP

O.J. Simpson looks over at his lawyer Tom Pitaro during an evidentiary hearing in Clark County District Court on May 17, 2013, in Las Vegas. Simpson is currently serving a 9-to-33-year sentence in state prison as a result of his October 2008 conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping charges.

O.J. Simpson stands a good chance of being released on parole from a Nevada prison later this year, the chief deputy public defender of Clark County said Tuesday on Nevada Newsmakers.

Simpson's record of good behavior at the Lovelock Correctional Center and advanced age may help him when he goes before the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners, said Steven Yeager, Clark County chief deputy public defender.

Simpson, now 70, was convicted in 2008 on kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy charges stemming from a robbery in a Palace Station room in 2007, in which he said he was trying to retrieve his own football memorabilia from two sports-collectable dealers.

He is serving a 9-to-33 year sentence at Lovelock, about 90 miles north of Reno. Simpson's parole board date is expected to be set next month.

"I think he probably has a pretty good chance of being released," Yeager said while taping Nevada Newsmakers Tuesday.

"Typically, when the parole board is making that determination, they are looking at the inmate's history in the institution, the disciplinary history," Yeager said. "They also look at the age of the inmate and one of the things we always talk about in the criminal justice system is the older you get, the less likely you are to continue committing crimes."

Yeager is also a Democratic assemblyman from Las Vegas and the chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

"Essentially, most people age out of the criminal justice system," Yeager said. "So I would think in those two factors (age, good behavior), he probably stands a pretty good chance of being released.

"All that being said, I've certainly been wrong before about what the parole board will do on a particular case. So I will be as interested as you to see what their ultimate decision is," Yeager added on Nevada Newsmakers.

Yeager said fallout from Simpson's 1994 criminal trial — in which he was acquitted of murder in the deaths of his wife, Nicole Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman — could seep into a decision to let him leave prison.

It was the most publicized trial of the century, inspiring TV dramas and documentaries. Simpson was later found liable for the deaths of his wife and Goldman in a civil trial.

"Politics and public perception can play into whether an inmate gets released," Yeager said. "In the ideal world, that would not be the case and we would look (only) at the crime charge.

"But certainly, that (politics and public perception) is always a consideration that comes in to play," Yeager said. "Probably what makes that a little more complicated here is the fact that he (Simpson) was, of course, found not guilty of those crimes. But there is a widely held belief in our country that he did commit those crimes.

"Now I know the parole board is not supposed to look at that in terms of a prior conviction, but I think we would be somewhat dishonest if we didn't say that would be a calculus," Yeager said.

Ray Hagar is a retired political journalist from the Reno Gazette-Journal and current reporter/columnist for the Nevada Newsmakers podcast and website, nevadanewsmakers.com. Follow Ray on Twitter at @RayHagarNV.