Updates to our Terms of Use

We are updating our Terms of Use. Please carefully review the updated Terms before proceeding to our website.

Monday, March 18, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

No New Trial|for O.J. Simpson

CARSON CITY, Nev. (CN) - O.J. Simpson won't get a retrial of his conviction for a 2008 robbery at a Las Vegas casino that landed him in prison for up to 33 years, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The denial of his petition for habeas corpus appears to be Simpson's last shot at a retrial.

Simpson claimed that his trial attorneys, Yale Galanter of Florida and Gabriel Grasso and Malcolm LaVergne of Nevada, were ineffective and allowed the jury to hear damaging evidence that should not have been allowed, among other deficiencies.

Writing for the three-judge panel, Justice Ron Parraguirre said: "Simpson points to nothing in the record to indicate whether the jury actually listened to the complained-of-audio snippets either in court or during deliberations."

Had the jury heard the evidence, Parraguirre said, "none of the complained-of-evidence was relevant" and Simpson did not show that his attorney was "objectively unreasonable in not producing additional irrelevant evidence to counter it."

Not did Simpson show a "reasonable probability of a different outcome at trial had the evidence been excluded," Parraguirre wrote.

"There was substantial evidence that he conspired with others to set up the property-recovery plan, including the inveigling of the victims and the use of force."

Simpson has served 7 years of a 9-to-33 year state sentence. He and accomplices in 2007 robbed sports memorabilia from men he claimed had stolen it from him.

Simpson also claimed Galanter had a conflict of interest and "sabotaged" the case because he advised him about regaining his sports memorabilia before the robbery that landed him in prison.

But Parraguirre said Simpson's subsequent crime "'went far beyond'" what he discussed with Galanter, and that Simpson did not show that a conflict of interest affected Galanter's performance during trial.

"Simpson argues the cumulative errors of trial and appellate counsel warrant relief. Simpson has demonstrated only one error: appellate counsel's failure to provide a complete, accurate record on appeal," Parraguirre wrote.

"Accordingly, there are no errors to cumulate, and we conclude the district court did not err in denying this claim."

Simpson is represented by Las Vegas attorneys Osvaldo Fumo, Thomas Pitaro and Patricia Palm, who were not immediately available for comment.

The three-judge panel of Justices Ron D. Parraguirre, Michael Douglas and Michael A. Cherry affirmed Clark County Judge Marie Bell's denial of Simpson's request for habeas corpus.

Categories / Uncategorized

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Loading...