Timeline of legal events in O.J. Simpson’s life
May 15, 2013, 2:36 PM
(AP) – A timeline of major legal developments involving O.J. Simpson:
_ June 12, 1994: O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and friend Ronald Goldman are found dead in Los Angeles. Simpson is arrested after a widely televised freeway chase in his white Ford Bronco.
_ Oct. 3, 1995: Simpson is acquitted of two counts of murder after the “trial of the century” in Los Angeles.
_ February 1997: Simpson is found liable for damages in a civil wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to Goldman, Nicole Brown Simpson estates.
_ Oct. 24, 2001: Simpson is cleared of all charges in a Florida case involving an alleged road-rage incident.
_ Sept. 13, 2007: Simpson and five men confront memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong in a Palace Station hotel room in Las Vegas. Middleman Thomas Riccio hides audio recorder in the room. Beardsley, Fromong report an armed robbery. Two of the five men later testify they had guns.
_ September 2007: Simpson and five other men are arrested and charged with felonies including kidnapping, armed robbery. Four co-defendants later take plea deals and testify for the prosecution. Each is convicted of at least one felony and sentenced to probation.
_ Sept. 12, 2008: Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart go on trial in Clark County District Court. Simpson is represented by Miami attorney Yale Galanter and Las Vegas lawyer Gabriel Grasso.
_ Oct. 3, 2008: Jury finds Simpson, Stewart guilty on all 12 charges including kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy, coercion, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon.
_ December 2008: Judge Jackie Glass sentences Simpson to nine to 33 years in prison. Stewart gets 7 1/2 to 27 years. Simpson is imprisoned at the state prison in Lovelock.
_ April-May 2009: Galanter and Grasso split. Galanter and Las Vegas lawyer Malcolm LaVergne appeal Simpson’s conviction to Nevada Supreme Court.
_ August 2009: A California Superior Court judge orders several items taken from the Las Vegas hotel room returned to Simpson. An attorney for the Goldman estate gets other items to auction.
_ September 2010: Nevada Supreme Court denies Simpson’s appeal.
_ October 2010: Nevada Supreme Court grants Stewart a new trial, says Simpson’s fame tainted trial and Stewart should have been tried separately.
_ January 2011: Stewart avoids retrial, pleading guilty to felony robbery and conspiracy. He is sentenced to probation and house arrest, and freed from prison after serving more than two years.
_ March 2011: LaVergne asks the full seven-member state Supreme Court to reconsider appeal. Galanter not part of the case.
_ May 2011: Glass resigns from Clark County District Court to become a TV judge, replacing Nancy Grace on “Swift Justice with Jackie Glass.”
_ May 17, 2011: Nevada Supreme Court rejects LaVergne’s bid to reconsider Simpson appeal without comment.
_ March-April 2012: Grasso sues Galanter in federal court in Las Vegas, alleging nonpayment of fees; Galanter sues Grasso, another lawyer and LaVergne in Florida state court, alleging defamation and slander.
_ May 2012: New Simpson appellate lawyer Patricia Palm files writ of habeas corpus with Clark County District Court, seeking Simpson’s release from prison and reversal of his conviction, alleging ineffective assistance of trial and appellate counsel. Veteran criminal lawyer Ozzie Fumo later joins the case.
_ September 2012: Nevada Supreme Court rejects Palm’s bid to disqualify the Clark County district attorney’s office from handling the case because the current district attorney, Steve Wolfson, is married to Glass.
_ October 2012: Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell agrees to hear 19 of 22 grounds for relief, schedules five-day writ of habeas corpus hearing.
_ May 13, 2013: Hearing begins in Las Vegas.
_ May 15, 2013: Simpson expected to testify.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
