ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal { text-align: left; } .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">O.J.&#39;s Sentence</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright December 5, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">W</span>hen O.J. Simpson stood for sentencing in the Las Vegas courtroom of Judge Jackie Glass, he wished his old attorney the late Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. was at his side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unlike his spectacular acquittal for double-murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson was represented by Yale Galanter, who couldn t convince a Las Vegas jury that his client was innocent of kidnapping and armed robbery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since the guilty verdict Oct. 4, 2008, Galanter insisted O.J. didn t get a fair trial because there were no black jurors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before that, he also insisted his client couldn t get a fair trial because of notoriety related to his past criminal trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Glass sentenced O.J. to 33 years in jail with the possibility for parole after nine years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Simpson begged for clemency in a five-minute ramble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I didn t want to steal anything from anyone . . . I m sorry, I m sorry, said O.J., offering more feeble excuses.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>O.J. s legal team couldn t reverse the undeniable reality of an audiotape hearing Simpson ordering his codefendants to seal the doors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Don t let nobody out of this room, O.J. was heard on the voice recording, convincing the 12-person jury that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I m not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything, said O.J. in his brief statement to the court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He echoed the feeble defense theory that he was simply taking back stolen items Sept. 16 at the Palace Station Casino-Hotel from Sports memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>O.J. confessed at the time of his arrest he was simply retrieving his stolen merchandise, though denied that a gun was wielded at the scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judge Glass dismissed O.J. s benign description of events, calling the evidence of kidnapping and armed robbery overwhelming.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Crying foul, Simpson s attorney Yale Galanter blamed the outcome on band pretrial publicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It really made us all aware that despite our best efforts, it s very difficult to separate the California case from the Nevada case, promising to appeal the verdicts and sentence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Most legal experts see little basis for appeal in the Nevada court system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Watching the sentence read in the courtroom, Fred and Kim Goldman, Ron s father and sister, expressed relief and satisfaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We are thrilled, and it s a bittersweet moment, said Fred Goldman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs, after getting little satisfaction after winning a wrongful death case and $33.5 million judgment Feb. 5, 1997.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For 10 years the Goldman s collected next to nothing, only recently winning rights June 15, 2007 to a controversial book entitled,  If I Did It, by a Florida Bankruptcy judge.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Publishing  If I Did It, cost tabloid book mogul Judith Regan her job with ReganBooks, an imprint of Rupert Murdoch s News Corp s HarperCollins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whatever the Goldmans earned in royalties, it paled in comparison to finally seeing O.J. carted off to state prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since his acquittal Oct. 3, 1995, the public has followed the 61-year-old NFL Hall of Fame running back from golf courses to sports memorabilia conventions eventually to Las Vegas where O.J. finally meted out his own punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> You do things and you ve got to expect karma to come around, said Greg Wheatley, 32, of Los Angeles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since walking out of Los Angeles Superior Court a free man, O.J. has found it difficult to return to a  normal life, having numerous scrapes with the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After everything put into his criminal trial, Johnnie Cochran would be turning in his grave watching O.J. self-destruct.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Galanter s right that O.J. s criminal trial followed him around like a bad virus, eventually causing his demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What he s wrong about is that O.J. didn t get a fair trial in Nevada.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>As Judge Glass pointed out, the evidence against O.J. was overwhelming this time around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s hard to argue with eyewitnesses and collectibles dealers Thomas Ricco s voice recording, especially hearing O.J. say,  Don t let nobody out of this room. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Unlike the 1995 verdict, most people believe justice was served in Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Few expected the once popular celebrity to skate from this latest escapade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What seems so ironic is that he ll do at least nine years provided his appeal fails for a relatively minor infraction compared with the gruesome knife attack that ended two young lives and ruined the victims families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether admitted to or not, O.J. orchestrated his own sentence and way to prison.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Simpson finally got his comeuppance, not, as his counsel Yale Galanter says, because of pretrial publicity, but precisely because his guilt induced his self-destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Several past brushes with the law finally caught up with the former pitchman for Hertz Rental Cars and Honey Baked Ham.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Charismatic, charming with movie-star looks, Simpson was once at the top of the celebrity world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His 1995 acquittal on double-homicide kept him out of jail but not out of the psychological prison leading to his eventual demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His incoherent apology in Glass courtroom today reflects a pathetic deterioration in his mental faculties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sniveling before the judge, Simpson reminded the court of the toll taken on a life interrupted by one-night s homicidal binge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>For the next nine years, O.J. will finally have the chance to make amends with a life of so much promise that caused so much pain.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <bAbout the Author</u>John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html"> <i> Dodging The Bulle</i></a><i>t</i>&nbsp; and&nbsp; <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>