Fifth and Goal

I’m just a plainspoken Colorado criminal defense lawyer, but the way I see it…

It has always been about getting O.J. Simpson. He is now being held without bail on a charge that other people with a high public profile — or no public profile — would be released on bail or no bail at all.

And why not? O.J. Simpson murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman and then went golfing. What many people — maybe most people — don’t realize is that exactly the right thing happened in both his murder trial and his wrongful death conviction. California prosecutors dazzled by their months and months of fame had a slam-dunk case and then blew it. The jurors were right: even when everybody knows the defendant is guilty, prosecutors still have to prove it. Instead they turned the trial into a fashion show and stood gawking when the model walked down the runway and kept walking.

Game over?

Not really, as you are about to see. Nevada will take its turn with Simpson, and if that state’s police and prosecutors can avoid screwing up they will get the conviction they didn’t get in California, and a judge will sentence Simpson to consecutive terms the effect of which will be to keep him in prison for as long as would have the murder convictions.

Don’t like the outcome of the game? Put a little more time on the clock.