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14:31, 21-Jul-2017
O. J. Simpson granted parole, could be freed in October
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O. J. Simpson, the former American football legend whose acquittal in 1995 for double murder polarized the US, was granted parole on Thursday after serving nine years in prison for armed robbery.
A four-member parole board voted unanimously to free the 70-year-old man, after a tense public hearing broadcast live by news networks.
O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada on July 20, 2017. /VCG Photo
O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center in Lovelock, Nevada on July 20, 2017. /VCG Photo
Simpson bowed his head and appeared to be in tears when the ruling was announced. He repeatedly said "thank you" to the commissioners, and clasped his hands together.
"I've done my time, I've done it as well and respectfully as anyone can," Simpson said during the hearing. "I had no intent to commit a crime. If I would have made a better judgment back then, none of this would have never happened."
He has served nine years behind bars, having been sent to prison in 2008 for armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel. Simpson claimed at his trial that he was just seeking to recover personal items from the dealers.
O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center on July 20, 2017 in Lovelock, Nevada. /VCG Photo
O.J. Simpson reacts after learning he was granted parole at Lovelock Correctional Center on July 20, 2017 in Lovelock, Nevada. /VCG Photo
The former National Football League player and screen actor transfixed the US when he went on trial in 1995 for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a male companion Ron Goldman. The case, in which he was found not guilty, was known as the "Trial of the Century".
The commissioners did not challenge his assertion that he had spent a largely conflict-free life, and had always been "pretty good to people".
Bruce Fromong, one of the dealers Simpson was convicted of robbing in 2007, testified on Simpson's behalf on Thursday, saying that he had long ago forgiven the man he called a close friend.
O.J. Simpson's family and friend react during Simpson's parole hearing in Lovelock, Nevada on July 20, 2017. /VCG Photo
O.J. Simpson's family and friend react during Simpson's parole hearing in Lovelock, Nevada on July 20, 2017. /VCG Photo
"This is a good man. He made a mistake," said Fromong, "But if he called me tomorrow and said, 'Bruce I'm getting out, will you pick me up?' Juice, I'll be here tomorrow for you."
Simpson is set to be freed in October. He hopes to move to Florida, where his friends and family live.
(With inputs from AFP)
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