O.J. Simpson sentence match the crime?

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Tunnelcat
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O.J. Simpson sentence match the crime?

Post by Tunnelcat »

O.J. Simpson was just sentenced to a maximum of 33 years in prison. Do you think that the judge made a biased decision, that maybe it was just a little bit influenced by OJ's sordid past? I bet Ron Goldman is very happy with the verdict, but was it fair?

http://www.latimes.com/news/printeditio ... 7806.story
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Post by Octopus »

Well a 90 year old isn't as dangerous.
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Post by Spidey »

“Well a 90 year old isn't as dangerous.”

What, you never seen “Boondocks”? :P

And please, don’t get me started on OJ! :evil:
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Post by Octopus »

lol
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Post by Tunnelcat »

Yeah, ol' man Freeman's a ball breaker! I liked 'Boondocks'. I wish they'd make more episodes. At least there's some more new Robot Chicken episodes starting tomorrow night.

I think that OJ's little 'getting away with murder' episode came back to haunt him. Maybe the judge thought the same thing when she passed sentence. It did seem excessive for the crime he was tried for, but...... :roll:
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Post by TheCope »

If my good friends arrived into my apartment with guns demanding their sticky fingers cd I'd say that is a felony.

*can't you hear me knocking on your window?*
[12:54] <[RIP]Zaphod> but thx for TRYING to make a dilemma :-P
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Post by woodchip »

I wonder how the cons will cotton up to OJ in the big house.
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Post by Cuda68 »

woodchip wrote:I wonder how the cons will cotton up to OJ in the big house.
They will take his false teeth away for sure. :D
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Post by TechPro »

tunnelcat wrote:I think that OJ's little 'getting away with murder' episode came back to haunt him. Maybe the judge thought the same thing when she passed sentence. It did seem excessive for the crime he was tried for, but...... :roll:
You think so?
the linked article wrote: Sept. 18: Simpson and three others are charged with felonies, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

Oct. 3, 2008: A jury convicts Simpson on all charges.

Dec. 5: Simpson is sentenced to a maximum of 33 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in nine years.
Consider, Simpson (and the three others with him) were charged with 1) felonies (multiple), 2) kidnapping and 3) assault with a deadly weapon. Then a jury finds Simpson guilty of ALL charges. We're not talking about a person who committed a simple crime here. We're talking about very premeditated, fully intentional, multiple crimes of which at least two could land a person with nearly a lifetime in jail ... and you're saying his previous past may have biased the judges decision??

Get some perspective.
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Post by shaktazuki »

TechPro wrote: Consider, Simpson (and the three others with him) were charged with 1) felonies (multiple), 2) kidnapping and 3) assault with a deadly weapon. Then a jury finds Simpson guilty of ALL charges. We're not talking about a person who committed a simple crime here. We're talking about very premeditated, fully intentional, multiple crimes of which at least two could land a person with nearly a lifetime in jail ... and you're saying his previous past may have biased the judges decision??

Get some perspective.
Like what kind of perspective? Legal labels are prejudicial, and intentionally so - exactly what actions was Simpson convicted of?

Did Simpson touch a gun during the crime? Did he point a gun at someone? Did he shoot a gun? Did he touch someone with a gun?

Was anyone taken by force from one place to another?

Please, give us more perspective.
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Post by TechPro »

shaktazuki wrote:
TechPro wrote:Get some perspective.
Like what kind of perspective? Legal labels are prejudicial, and intentionally so - exactly what actions was Simpson convicted of?

Did Simpson touch a gun during the crime? Did he point a gun at someone? Did he shoot a gun? Did he touch someone with a gun?

Was anyone taken by force from one place to another?

Please, give us more perspective.
Did you not read what tunnelcat previously linked?

I'll summarize (again)... A jury found Simpson guilty of ALL charges:
  1. felonies (plural)
  2. kidnapping
  3. assault with a deadly weapon.
Apparently, you have some questions about that. Perhaps we must clarify.
shaktazuki wrote:Did Simpson touch a gun during the crime? Did he point a gun at someone? Did he shoot a gun? Did he touch someone with a gun?
"Assault with a deadly weapon." pretty well answers those questions. If you must have more detail, just Google. There's plenty of info out there.
shaktazuki wrote:Was anyone taken by force from one place to another?
He was found guilty of kidnapping. Pretty well answers that, too.

Check out this AP News on the judgement and you'll find some more info, plus the fact that the felonies were "violent" felonies (which carry harsher penalties), plus the state parole board recommended at least 18 years before being eligible for parole. The defense pushed for no less than 6 years before eligibility for parole. The judge could have sent Simpson and one other man to prison for life, but did not and allowed for parole eligibility in 7 1/2 years.

My opinion is that Simpson did not get a harsher sentence due to the earlier California incident. Instead, if the California incident had any impact on this judging, it was only because of the media attention.

Simpson did the crime, now he has to do the time.
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Post by Octopus »

yup
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Post by shaktazuki »

TechPro wrote:
shaktazuki wrote:
TechPro wrote:Get some perspective.
Like what kind of perspective? Legal labels are prejudicial, and intentionally so - exactly what actions was Simpson convicted of?

Did Simpson touch a gun during the crime? Did he point a gun at someone? Did he shoot a gun? Did he touch someone with a gun?

Was anyone taken by force from one place to another?

Please, give us more perspective.
Did you not read what tunnelcat previously linked?
Yep. Didn't answer the questions.
I'll summarize (again)... A jury found Simpson guilty of ALL charges:
  1. felonies (plural)
  2. kidnapping
  3. assault with a deadly weapon.
Apparently, you have some questions about that. Perhaps we must clarify.
Perhaps you must clarify, because you have failed to do so, re-summarizing notwithstanding.
shaktazuki wrote:Did Simpson touch a gun during the crime? Did he point a gun at someone? Did he shoot a gun? Did he touch someone with a gun?
"Assault with a deadly weapon." pretty well answers those questions.
No, actually, it doesn't.
If you must have more detail, just Google. There's plenty of info out there.
I guess you don't know.
shaktazuki wrote:Was anyone taken by force from one place to another?
He was found guilty of kidnapping. Pretty well answers that, too.
No, actually, it doesn't.
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Post by woodchip »

Are you being deliberately obtuse? Simpson did not have to physically touch the gun in order to be charged as long as one of the members of his gang had one. If the other gang member pulled out the gun and simply waved it around he would be guilty of simple brandishing. If he instead pointed it at the victim and threatened him, everyone in the gang is guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. If the gang member touched, pistol whipped or shot the victim, then the gang members are guilty of assault and \"Battery\".
If the victim died from a gunshot, all the members of the gang are now guilty of murder. Start to get the picture?
Kidnapping can be as simple as preventing the victim from leaving. Now go read up on the case yourself shaktazuki, instead of asking other people to do your work for you.
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Post by shaktazuki »

woodchip wrote:Are you being deliberately obtuse? Simpson did not have to physically touch the gun in order to be charged as long as one of the members of his gang had one. If the other gang member pulled out the gun and simply waved it around he would be guilty of simple brandishing. If he instead pointed it at the victim and threatened him, everyone in the gang is guilty of assault with a deadly weapon. If the gang member touched, pistol whipped or shot the victim, then the gang members are guilty of assault and "Battery".
If the victim died from a gunshot, all the members of the gang are now guilty of murder. Start to get the picture?
Is my point so obviously correct that it must be fought tooth-and-nail?

Simpson denies knowing that his compatriots were armed prior to the weapon appearing. Simpson never brandished a weapon.

Let's get some "perspective." Say person A gives person B a ride somewhere. A doesn't know it, but B is going to a drug buy. After B scores his smack, A is pulled over, and due solely to the drug possession of B, which A knew nothing, A's car is forfeited.

Justice? I don't think so. Why does this principle suddenly become justice when it comes to Simpson?
Kidnapping can be as simple as preventing the victim from leaving.
Gee, would that not be a far cry from tying someone up and taking them somewhere? And what role, exactly, did Simpson play in preventing anyone from leaving? We will never know.
Now go read up on the case yourself shaktazuki, instead of asking other people to do your work for you.
As I said: my point is so simple that it must be fought, tooth-and-nail.

I already know as much about the case as any of you.
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Post by Tunnelcat »

Yes, Simpson was convicted of several felonies, very serious crimes. But as Shaktazuki pointed out, Simpson's knowledge and involvement is a little murky concerning the gun use and the kidnapping charge seems to be a stretch since no one was actually moved anywhere unwillingly under restraint, but that definition is up to the authorities making the laws.

But my point was if a jury or judge had no prior knowledge of Simpson's past history, would the sentence have been more lenient? Most court trials usually prevent any prejudicial evidence from being heard during examinations. In Simpson's case, his notoriety makes that impossible to exclude in any court in the U.S.

A good example personally is a lawsuit my mother brought against a radiologist who dismissed a shadow on an X-ray as a something caused by her hair (which was way too short to even interfere in the chest area), when in actuality, it was an early lung tumor.

What makes this important is the fact that this X-ray was taken a full year before any cancer was suspected (she was having the X-ray taken for unrelated gall bladder surgery). A year later, lung cancer is diagnosed after it had spread to the lymph system.

What came out as things were investigated, this same radiologist had done the same thing to several patients in the past! He had a record of missing or dismissing things he found on film. But this information was deemed prejudicial by his lawyers and was never heard by the jury. Even though doctors at the trial testified that the year earlier X-ray did show a tumor, the jury still absolved the technician of any malpractice. The whole point of the case that was brought against this technician was that if he hadn't been in a hurry and dismissed the aberration he saw and commented on, my mother might have had an year earlier head start to stop her cancer and survive.

Would the jury have come to a different decision if they had heard the past sloppy X-ray evaluations record of this guy? I guess I'll never know. My mother died a year after the cancer was finally diagnosed. But if she'd had found out a year earlier, it might have made a difference.
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Post by woodchip »

Truly sorry to hear about your mothers passing TC and the circumstances around it.

In OJ's case, he could of gotten 33 years to life for the 12 felonies he committed. Instead he gets 9 years and will be out on good behavior in 7. So where did he get a harsh sentence? Even OJ's lawyer thought he got a better deal than what they expected.

The real kicker tho was OJ would of gotten even a better deal if he would of accepted the plea deal. To bad he is just a big dummy who, having gotten away with murder, thought he would get away with his latest crime also.
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Post by Octopus »

woodchip wrote: To bad he is just a big dummy who, having gotten away with murder, thought he would get away with his latest crime also.
It so stupid it makes me think he did it on purpose. Maybe he feels he deserves jail.
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Post by Mousepad »

It's probably more time than the crime deserves, but the man certainly deserves to be in prison. He's an idiot for turning down a plea deal, there's not a chance in hell any jury would let him get off a second time.
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Post by Top Wop »

Fail.

Just copy and paste the URL thing.
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Post by Tunnelcat »

ROFL! LAME! They've got to be kidding! $179.99 + $19.99 shipping? No effing way! Besides, it's uglier than sin! They must have mixed up the difference in value between famous and infamous when it was priced.
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