Parole Board and lawyer reactions after O.J. Simpson granted October release from Nevada prison

Record ID: 903478

  • Title: Parole Board and lawyer reactions after O.J. Simpson granted October release from Nevada prison
  • Date: 20th July 2017
  • Summary: LOVELOCK, NEVADA, UNITED STATES (JULY 20, 2017) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** O.J. SIMPSON'S LAWYER MALCOLM LAVERGNE STANDING OUTSIDE OF PRISON AFTER HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) O.J. SIMPSON'S LAWYER MALCOLM LAVERGNE, SAYING: "I don't think that there was anything that was surprising because we controlled, we were able to control a lot of things so well, so much, and especially the hearing. The biggest part of the hearing obviously for me was making sure that certain information was just kept ... Obviously, there's a 10,000 lb elephant in that room and I think we were very successful in making sure that that elephant was sleeping and that it was washed and very clean and that it never started, you know, veering its head or knocking things around so that was ... for me that was 100 percent successful, that it was excluded and kept out." LAVERGNE SPEAKING TO REPORTER CARSON CITY, NEVADA, UNITED STATES (JULY 20, 2017) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) OFFICIALS OF THE NEVADA PAROLE BOARD AND THE NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) DAVID SMITH OF THE NEVADA PAROLE BOARD, SAYING: "At 11:55am this morning, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners voted to grant parole to Mr. Orenthal Simpson effective when eligible. Mr. Simpson's eligibility date is October 1, 2017 and he may be released from prison on or after that date once any proposed release plans have been approved. The board stated reasons for granting parole included Mr. Simpson had no prior or minimal criminal conviction history, he had a positive institutional record, he had participated in programs specific to addressing behavior that led to his incarceration, he has stable release plans and community and family support and the victim in the case testified that in support of Mr. Simpson's release." SMITH HANDING OUT DOCUMENTS TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAPTAIN SHAWN ARRUTI OF NEVADA'S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, SAYING: "We did not know what the parole board's plans were, if they were if they were going to approve it or not because they make that determination at the hearing. What we did do is advance planning in anticipation that if he were to be granted parole that part of his plan that we were aware of was that he'd had family in Florida that would serve as that support system for him and with the understanding that he may be interested in doing an interstate compact. I have reached out to my counterparts in Florida, they are aware and they're waiting for our packet for their investigation to make the determination on whether or not they're willing to accept his case for supervision." ARRUTI AND SMITH AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAPTAIN SHAWN ARRUTI OF NEVADA'S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, SAYING: "If Florida said no, then the next step, and this is where I would have to be aware of what the conditions of his release were, our pre-release unit would look to find him a suitable plan or work with him to develop a suitable for here in Nevada." END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 3rd August 2017 22:24
  • Keywords: O.J. Simpson Parole Parole Board Lovelock Nevada Carson City
  • Location: LOVELOCK AND CARSON CITY, NEVADA
  • City: LOVELOCK AND CARSON CITY, NEVADA
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016QIXGLJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: O.J. Simpson was granted parole on Thursday (July 20) and will be released from prison in October following an emotional hearing that centered on the botched armed robbery of his own mementos at a Las Vegas hotel that landed him behind bars for nine years.
    A four-member panel of the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners voted unanimously to release the 70-year-old former football star turned TV pitch man and actor, now best remembered as the defendant in a sensational double-murder trial that gripped America two decades ago.
    Simpson participated by live video feed from Lovelock Correctional Center, about 100 miles (161 km) from the parole board's offices in Carson City, sitting at a wooden table next to his attorney dressed in prison-issue denim shirt and dark pants.
    A smiling Simpson, with close-cropped gray hair and looking thinner than at his last parole hearing in 2013, testified along with his daughter and one of the two robbery victims. He offered a rambling account of his actions, sometimes striking a defensive tone and at others sounding apologetic.
    He bowed his head and appeared to be in tears as the board voted unanimously to grant him parole, then stood and thanked the commissioners repeatedly.
    Among reasons the commissioners gave for their decision was that Simpson had complied with prison rules during his incarceration, had no prior criminal convictions and posed a minimal safety risk to the public.
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