O.J. Simpson Parole Hearing Granted

O.J. Simpson is scheduled for a parole hearing on July 25, according to documents that were posted on Wednesday by the Nevada Parole Board.

According to Fox Sports, Parole Board spokesman David Smith said that Simpson will not appear in person and that only O.J. Simpson, his representatives, or his victims will be allowed to speak in front of two members of the parole board.

If they decide to recommend him for parole, they’ll circulate their advice to the other five members of the board. Four out of the seven members must agree for Simpson to receive parole.

But, even then, he won’t be free.

Simpson, now 66 and graying, was originally convicted of 12 counts in connection with a 2007 Las Vegas hotel room robbery, resulting in a sentence of nine to 33 years. An audiotape of the botched assault on two sports memorabilia dealers in a Palace Station hotel room helped convict Simpson of the violent crime, as well as exposing him to widespread public mockery.

ABC News explained that the sentence was actually multiple sentences, and he doesn’t start serving some of them until he is paroled on the previous charges.

As I previously reported, O.J. Simpson is currently fighting a battle to get his convictions in the robbery case tossed out on the grounds that he got bad and even dangerous legal advice from his attorney Yale Galanter. District Judge Linda Marie Bell has already heard his argument but hasn’t yet ruled on his case.

His new attorney entered 19 motions in what has been popularly described as a Hail Mary effort to win freedom for the former National Football League Hall of Famer.

If the effort is unsuccessful, he may appeal again. Unless the conviction is overturned, O.J. Simpson is unlikely to be eligible to be freed from prison on parole until he is 70.

[1990 O.J. Simpson stock photo by Gerald Johnson via Wikimedia]