O. J. Simpson Appeal Meets Deadline; May Not Meet Other Requirements
O. J. Simpson’s most recent appeal for his 2008 robbery conviction was filed Wednesday night before midnight, beating the deadline the court had set for this first brief in a process started in December 2013.
The brief has not yet been made public, but the contents are purported to be a claim that Simpson faced unfair bias in the trial, in which he was convicted on charges of burglary, kidnapping, robbery, and assault for a 2007 incident involving a pair of sports memorabilia salesmen, according to Yahoo. Simpson was accused of leading a group of armed men in an attack on the salesmen in a Las Vegas hotel.
O. J. Simpson’s name was, of course, tarnished in 1995, when he was accused (and subsequently acquitted) of the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman, in a series of events and trial that captured America’s attention for much of 1994 and 1995.
It’s because of the very attention Simpson gained from those two years of coverage, that Simpson’s lawyers are arguing he was unable to receive a fair trial. It’s certainly true that, nearly 20 years later, O. J. Simpson’s slow-speed chase with police is still the first image to spring to many minds upon hearing the term ‘white Bronco,’ and that people still recall phrases from Simpson’s defense, such as “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit!”
However, ESPN reports that Simpson’s opening brief is significantly longer than the limit set by the court, and that the seven justices who will be reviewing it have the option to refuse to accept it for this reason. The court imposed a limit of 14,000 words for the document, and the brief Simpson’s lawyers submitted on Wednesday contains 19,993 words.
Unless and until they do accept it, the document will not be made public.
Patricia Palm, one of Simpson’s attorneys, told ESPN that the court routinely accepts documents longer than the limits set, and that the brief includes a request to waive the limit. She explained the overage as being caused by a need to respond in detail to 101 pages of ruling in Simspon’s previous trial.
Regarding that conviction, Simpson has always maintained that he was trying to retrieve items he believed the memorabilia dealers had stolen from him. The appeal is not of that ruling itself, but of a denial to Simpson’s 2013 request for a new trial in that matter, so if the Supreme Court rules in his favor, it only means that Simpson has another chance to try to convince a court of his innocence.
[Photo credit:Alan Light]
