On O.J.

O.J. Simpson’s pending parole has generated a lot of rhetoric ever since his successful hearing.  Pundits and “interested parties” from every nook and cranny have chimed in about his parole, mostly condemning it.

Let me be perfectly clear!  I personally think that O.J. Simpson killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.  Pure and simple.  I have never seen any evidence to point to his innocence.  I have never seen any evidence to even point to their being any reasonable doubt.  Bottom line: In my opinion, he got away with murder.  I could pontificate as to why but many others have already done so.  While I do not agree with all of the conclusions, most of the grounds for his acquittal have been well discussed ad infinitum.  You can find books, news reports, and TV specials to give you every reason under the sun.

He was found Not Guilty of that crime.  Pure and simple.  He is not being paroled for that crime.  He is being paroled for the crime of participating in an armed robbery.  Keep in mind that when he committed this crime, he was not in possession of a weapon and he had never been convicted of any crime before.  Those are the facts.  I do not care if you like those facts or not.  I matters not if I like those facts or not.  Facts are facts.  They have not agenda.

Given the facts of O.J. Simpson’s crime, his sentence was extremely harsh and he should probably have been paroled the first time out especially given the fact that he has been classified a model prisoner ever since he has been incarcerated.  In short, if you believe in our justice system, keeping him in jail is the real travesty.

To hear pundits say that he should rot in jail is specious at best.  I can forgive the Goldmans.  I do not expect them to have any real prospective and I do not fault them.  But when I hear Chris Darden bellyaching about his release.   Keep in mind; he was one of O.J.’s prosecutors in the murder trial.  Given the evidence accumulated against O.J. Simpson, Darden deserves more “blame” for O.J. being a free man than the parole board of the State of Nevada.

While we are on the subject of trials: I personally cannot wrap my head around the civil case against O.J. Simpson (OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER) for the murders.  I am not stupid.  I know one is criminal and one is civil.  I know that there are different burdens of proof.  I know that there are different punishments.  Nevertheless, it is for the same damned crime, the same damned offence.  I understand it is supposed to be another way to get “justice” but to me it is a way to circumvent the United States Constitution’s guarantee against double jeopardy.  Even if it has been allowed by the judicial system, I think it stinks.  Not that I am saying that I feel that people should be allowed to get away scot-free but we have laws for a reason.