美国国家公共电台 NPR O.J. Simpson Parole Hearing Could Lead To His Release From Prison

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Some other news - O.J. Simpson finds out today if he will be released soon from a Nevada prison. He's been in there almost nine years. Nine was the minimum. He received a sentence of 9 to 33 years for armed robbery and other charges. NPR's Ina Jaffe has a preview of today's parole hearing.

INA JAFFE, BYLINE 1: After all of O.J. Simpson's fame and notoriety, what landed him in a Nevada state prison was a robbery gone wrong. In 2007, Simpson and a few accomplices 2 broke into the Las Vegas hotel room of a couple of sports memorabilia dealers 3. Simpson wanted to recover some stuff he said belonged to him. A couple of the guys with him brought guns. Eventually, Simpson was charged with 12 criminal counts, including armed robbery, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

O J SIMPSON: I just wish I had never gone into that room, I wish I didn't. I wish I would have just said, keep it, and not worry about it.

JAFFE: Simpson speaking at a hearing in 2013, when he was granted parole on some of the charges against him. He spoke 4 to the parole board via video conference from the Lovelock Correctional Center. He'll do the same at today's hearing. Last time, he reminded the board about his exemplary behavior behind bars.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SIMPSON: I gave them my word that I would try to be or would be the best person that they've ever had here. And I think, for the most part, I've kept my word on that.

JAFFE: Simpson has a good chance to be paroled on the remaining charges after today's hearing. No one is scheduled to speak against him. The state of Nevada uses a scoring system to evaluate the risk a prisoner might pose to the community. Categories include behavior in prison and age. Simpson is 70.

YALE GALANTER: He deserves parole, just simple as that.

JAFFE: That's Yale Galanter, one of Simpson's defense 5 attorneys in the armed robbery case. He thinks a Las Vegas jury was dishing out some payback, not so much for Simpson's acquittal 13 years earlier in the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, but for the recently published book that Simpson co-authored called "If I Did It." Galanter says he could hear the jury's disgust when he questioned them.

GALANTER: How do write a book that your children are going to see called "If I Killed Your Mother" and "If I Killed Your Mother's Friends"?

JAFFE: As with all things O.J., there's been tremendous media interest in this hearing. Ordinarily, the parole board's decision would follow in a few weeks, but they've announced that they will rule in Simpson's case today so they can put this behind them and get back to their normal way of doing business. Ina Jaffe, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF BONES DOMINGO'S "HAVE THIS")