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O. J. Simpson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

O. J. Simpson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

O. J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson with his daughter in 1986
Position(s):
Running back		 Jersey #(s):
32
Born: July 9, 1947 (1947-07-09) (age 60)
San Francisco, California
Career Information
Year(s): 1969–1979
NFL Draft: 1969 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
College: Southern California
Professional Teams
Career Stats
Rushing Yards     11,236
Average     4.7
Rushing TDs     61
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
Pro Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame

Orenthal James "O. J." Simpson (born July 9, 1947), also known by his nickname, The Juice, is a retired American football player who earned infamy for having been tried for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1994. He originally attained stardom as a running back at the collegiate and professional levels, and was the first NFL player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. He later worked as an actor, spokesman and broadcaster.

Simpson was acquitted of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1995 after a lengthy, highly publicized criminal trial. In 1997, Simpson was found liable for their wrongful deaths in civil court, but to date he has paid little of the $33.5 million judgment.[1] He gained further notoriety in late 2006 when he wrote a book titled If I Did It. The book, which purports to be a first-person fictional account of the murder had he actually committed it, was withdrawn by the publisher just before its release. The book was later released by the Goldman family and the title of the book was expanded to If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer (ISBN 978-0825305887). In September 2007, Simpson faced more legal troubles, as he was arrested[2] and subsequently charged with numerous felonies, including robbery with a deadly weapon, burglary with a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon, first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon (which carries possible life sentence), coercion with use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit a crime.[3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Simpson was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Eunice (née Durden; October 23, 1921 – San Francisco, California, November 9, 2001), a hospital administrator, and Don Lee Simpson (Producer of the Rock) and principle investor in MACOVICH LLP (Arkansas, January 29, 1920 – San Francisco, California, June 9, 1986), a chef and bank custodian.[4] Simpson's maternal grandparents were from Louisiana.[5] His aunt gave him the name Orenthal, which supposedly was the name of a French actor she liked.[6] His parents were separated in 1952. Simpson has one brother, Melvin Leon "Truman" Simpson, and two sisters, Shirley Simpson-Baker and Carmelita Simpson-Durio. As a child, Simpson contracted rickets and wore braces on his legs until the age of five [7].

At Galileo High School in San Francisco, Simpson played for the school football team, the Galileo Lions. From 1965 to 1966, Simpson was a student at City College of San Francisco, a member of the California Community Colleges system. He played both offense (running back) and defense (defensive back), and was named to the Junior College All American team as a running back.

University of Southern California

Simpson earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California where he played running back for the University of Southern California in 1967 and 1968. Simpson led the nation in rushing in 1967 when he ran for 1,451 yards and scored 11 touchdowns. He also led the nation in rushing the next year with 355 carries for 1,709 yards.

In 1967, he starred in the 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game and was a Heisman Trophy candidate, though he did not win the award. His 64 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter tied the game, with the PAT the margin of victory. This was the biggest play in what is regarded as one of the greatest football games of the 20th century.[8] Another dramatic touchdown in the same game is the subject of the Arnold Friberg oil painting, O.J. Simpson Breaks for Daylight. Simpson also won the Walter Camp Award in 1967 and was a two-time consensus All-American. [9] He also ran in the USC sprint relay quartet that broke the world record at the NCAA track championships in Provo, Utah in June 1967.[10]

In 1968, he rushed for 1,709 yards and 22 touchdowns, earning the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award that year. He still holds the record for the Heisman's largest margin of victory, defeating the runner-up by 1,750 points. In the 1969 Rose Bowl where #2 USC faced #1 Ohio State, Simpson threw a costly interception and fumbled the ball in a 16-27 loss in his final college game.[11]

NFL

There was a regular-season game nicknamed for Simpson; it was the "O.J. Bowl", between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers, because it was thought the loser would get the first crack at drafting him. The Eagles won that game 12-0 (on 4 field goals by Sam Baker); but it turned out that neither of those teams drafted him.

Simpson was drafted by the AFL's Buffalo Bills, who got first pick in the 1969 draft after finishing 1-12-1 in 1968. Early in his NFL career, Simpson struggled on poor Buffalo teams, averaging only 622 yards per season for his first three.

He first rushed for more than 1,000 yards in 1972, gaining a total of 1,251. In 1973, Simpson rushed for a then-record 2,003 yards, becoming the first player ever to pass the 2,000-yard mark, and scored 12 touchdowns. Simpson gained more than 1,000 rushing yards for each of his next three seasons.

Simpson's 1977 season in Buffalo was cut short by injury. Before the 1978 season, the Bills traded Simpson to the San Francisco 49ers for a second round draft pick, where he played two unremarkable seasons.

Simpson gained 11,236 rushing yards, placing him 16th on the NFL's all-time rushing list. He was named NFL Player of the Year in 1973, and played in six Pro Bowls. Simpson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, his first year of eligibility.

Family life

On June 24, 1967 Simpson married Marguerite L. Whitley. Together they had three children: Arnelle L. Simpson (born December 4, 1968), Jason L. Simpson (born April 21, 1970) and Aaren Lashone Simpson (born September 24, 1977). In 1979, Aaren drowned in the family's swimming pool a month before her second birthday. That same year Simpson and Marguerite were divorced.

On February 2, 1985, Simpson married Nicole Brown. They had two children, Sydney Brooke Simpson (born October 17, 1985) and Justin Ryan Simpson (born August 6, 1988), and were divorced in 1992.

Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman were murdered on June 12, 1994. Simpson was charged in their deaths but acquitted of all criminal charges in a now-infamous criminal trial. In the unanimous jury findings of a civil court case in February 1997, Simpson was found guilty and liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman and battery of Nicole Brown (effectively finding him guilty of her death.)

Simpson in 1990 in Iraq while visiting American troops during the first Gulf War.
Simpson in 1990 in Iraq while visiting American troops during the first Gulf War.

Acting

Even before his retirement from football and in the NFL, Simpson went on to a successful film career with parts in films such as the television mini-series Roots, and the dramatic motion pictures The Cassandra Crossing, Capricorn One, The Klansman, The Towering Inferno, and the comedic Back to the Beach and The Naked Gun trilogy. In 1979, he started his own film production company Orenthal Productions, which dealt mostly in made-for-TV fare such as the family-oriented Goldie and the Boxer films with Melissa Michaelsen and Cocaine and Blue Eyes, the pilot for a proposed detective series on NBC.

Simpson's amiable persona and natural charisma landed him numerous endorsement deals. He was a spokesman for the Hertz rental car company. He would often be shown running through airports, as if to suggest he was back on the football field. Simpson was also a longtime spokesman for Pioneer Chicken and owned two franchises, one of which was destroyed during the LA riots, as well as Honeybaked Hams, the pX Corporation, the Calistoga Water Company's line of Napa Naturals soft drinks, and he appeared in comic book ads for Dingo shoes.

Besides his acting career, Simpson had stints as a commentator for Monday Night Football and The NFL on NBC.[12] He also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live.[13]

Legal problems

Criminal trial for murder

Main article: O. J. Simpson murder case

In 1989, Simpson pled no contest to a domestic violence charge and was separated from Nicole Brown, to whom he was paying child support. On June 12, 1994 Nicole and her friend Ronald Goldman were found dead outside Brown's condominium. Simpson was soon charged with their murders. After failing to turn himself in, he became the object of a low-speed pursuit in a white Ford Bronco SUV. The pursuit, arrest, and trial were among the most widely publicized in American history. The trial, often characterized as "the trial of the century", culminated on October 3, 1995 in a jury verdict of not guilty for the two murders. The verdict was seen live on TV by more than half of the U.S. population, making it one of the most watched events in American TV history. Immediate reaction to the verdict was notable for its division along racial lines: polls showed that most black Americans felt that justice had been served by the "not guilty" verdict, while most white Americans did not.[citation needed] O.J. Simpson's defense attorney was the late Johnnie Cochran.

Civil trial for wrongful death

On February 5, 1997 a civil jury in Santa Monica, California unanimously found Simpson liable for the wrongful death of Ronald Goldman, battery against Ronald Goldman, and battery against Nicole Brown. The attorney for plaintiff Fred Goldman (father of Ronald Goldman) was Daniel Petrocelli. Simpson was ordered to pay $33,500,000 in damages. However, California law protects pensions from being used to satisfy judgments, so Simpson was able to continue much of his lifestyle based on his NFL pension. In February 1999 an auction of Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other belongings netted almost $500,000. The money went to the Goldman family. Simpson's payment for appearing in the video game All Pro Football 2K8 was also seized.

A 2000 Rolling Stone article reported that Simpson still made a significant income by signing autographs. He subsequently moved from California to Miami, Florida. In Florida, a person's residence cannot be seized to collect a debt under most circumstances. The Goldman family also tried to collect Simpson's NFL pension of $22,000 a month but failed to collect any money. [14]

Related litigation

The civil and criminal trials of Simpson were not the only important legal cases that were spawned by the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994.

  • On September 5, 2006, Ron Goldman's father took Simpson back to court to obtain control over his "right to publicity" for purposes of satisfying the judgment in the civil court case.[1] On January 4, 2007 a Federal judge issued a restraining order prohibiting Simpson from spending any advance he may have received on a canceled TV and book deal. The matter was dismissed before trial for lack of jurisdiction.[1] On January 19, 2007 a California state judge issued an additional restraining order, ordering Simpson to restrict his spending to "ordinary and necessary living expenses".[1]
  • On March 13, 2007 a judge prevented Simpson from receiving any further compensation from a canceled book deal and TV interview. He ordered the bundled book rights to be auctioned.[15]
  • In August 2007, a Florida bankruptcy court awarded the rights to the book to the Goldman family to partially satisfy an unpaid civil judgment. The book was renamed If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, and comments were added to the original manuscript by the Goldman family, author Pablo Fenjves, and prominent investigative journalist Dominick Dunne.[16]

Overdue income taxes

The State of California claims Simpson owes $1,435,484.17 in past due taxes. A tax lien was filed in his case on September 1, 1999.[17]

DirecTV satellite piracy case

On March 8, 2004, satellite television network DirecTV, Inc. accused Simpson in a Miami federal court of using illegal electronic devices to pirate its broadcast signals. The El Segundo, California-based company later won a US$25,000 judgment, and Simpson was ordered to pay US$33,678 in attorneys' fees and costs.[18][19]

Las Vegas robbery

Main article: O. J. Simpson Las Vegas robbery case

In September, 2007, a group of men allegedly entered a room at the Palace Station hotel-casino and took sports memorabilia at gunpoint. Simpson was questioned by police.[20][21] Simpson admitted to taking the items, which he said had been stolen from him, but denied breaking into the hotel room; he also denied that he or anyone else carried a gun.[22][23] He was released after questioning.

Two days later, however, Simpson was arrested[24] and initially held without bail.[25] Along with three other men, Simpson was charged[26] with multiple felony counts, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and using a deadly weapon.[27] If convicted of all charges, he could face more than 60 years imprisonment.[25] The kidnapping charge could land Simpson in prison with a life sentence with parole, and the robbery charges, if convicted, carry mandatory prison time.[28] Bail was then set at US$125,000, with stipulations that Simpson have no contact with the co-defendants and that Simpson must surrender his passport. Simpson did not enter a plea.[29][30]

By the end of October 2007, all three of Simpson's co-defendants had plea bargained with the Clark County court. Walter Alexander and Charles H. Cashmore accepted plea agreements in exchange for reduced charges and his testimony against Simpson and three other co-defendants, including testifying that guns were used in the alleged robbery.[31] Co-defendant Michael McClinton told a Las Vegas judge that he too would plead guilty to reduced charges and testify against Simpson that guns were used in the robbery. After the hearings, the judge decided to take Simpson to trial for the heist.

Simpson's preliminary hearing, to decide whether he would be tried for the charges, occurred on November 8, 2007. He was held over for trial on all 12 counts. Simpson pleaded not guilty on November 29. Court officers and attorneys announced on May 22, 2008, that long questionnaires with at least 115 queries will be given to a jury pool of 400 or more. Prosecutors and defense counsels disagreed on at least 3 questions, and Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass scheduled arguments on the June 20 hearing on pretrial motions. Trial was reset from April to September 8, 2008.[32]

Arrest for contacting co-defendant

In January 2008, Simpson was taken into custody in Florida and flown to Las Vegas, NV where he was jailed for allegedly violating the terms of his bail by attempting to contact Clarence "C.J." Stewart, a co-defendant in a trial in which they are charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy to commit crimes. District Attorney David Roger of Clark County, Nev., provided District Court Judge Jackie Glass with data that Simpson had violated terms of bail. The hearing on this bail issue was on January 16, 2008. Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass raised Simpson's bail to US$250,000 and ordered that he remain in jail until 15% of the bail, in cash, was paid.[33] Simpson posted bond that evening and returned to Miami the next day.[34]

Alleged confession

Mike Gilbert, a memorabilia dealer, is a former friend of Simpson. Gilbert has written a book titled "How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder: The Shocking Inside Story of Violence, Loyalty, Regret and Remorse". He states that Simpson had smoked pot, took a sleeping pill and was drinking beer when he confided at his Brentwood home weeks after his trial what happened the night of June 12, 1994. Simpson said, "If she hadn't opened that door with a knife in her hand ... she'd still be alive." This confirmed Gilbert's beliefs that he had confessed. Simpson's current lawyer, Yale Galanter, said none of Gilbert's claims are true and that Gilbert is "a delusional drug addict who needs money. He has fallen on very hard times. He is in trouble with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service)."

Filmography

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c d O.J. Simpson ordered to stop spending
  2. ^ O.J. Simpson's Las Vegas Police Arrest Report (HTML). FindLaw (16 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  3. ^ http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/09/18/criminal.complaint.pdf
  4. ^ O. J. Simpson Biography (1947-)
  5. ^ http://www.wargs.com/other/simpson.html Ancestry of O.J. Simpson
  6. ^ Schwartz, Larry (2000) "Before trial, Simpson charmed America." ESPN.com.
  7. ^ http://www.cnn.com/US/OJ/suspect/bio/index.html CNN-A timeline of O.J. Simpson's life
  8. ^ Peters, Nick. (1988) College Football's Twenty-Five Greatest Teams: The Sporting News. Number 9 Southern California Trojans 1967 ISBN 0-89204-281-8
  9. ^ University of Southern California Football Media Guide — PDF copy available at www.usctrojans.com. Page 125 of the 2006 Edition. USC's ALL-AMERICANS. (Consensus All-American in 1967, Unanimous All-American in 1968)
  10. ^ Athletics: World Record progression: Men: 4 x 100m Relay (PDF). International Olympic Committee (18 January 2002). Retrieved on 2007-09-11.
  11. ^ Jenkins, Dan - Defense And Rex Make A King. Ohio State's Buckeyes came from 10 points behind to win the Rose Bowl and the national championship with a crushing display of excellence that kept USC's offense in hand and its defense dismayed. Sports Illustrated, January 13, 1969
  12. ^ History of ABC's Monday Night Football. ESPN (2003-01-15). Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  13. ^ "OJ Simpson/Ashford & Simpson". Saturday Night Live. NBC. 1978-02-25. No. 12, season 3.
  14. ^ "Judge Rules Simpson's Mother Can Keep Piano"; CourtTV news; November 17, 2007
  15. ^ Judge Keeps O.J. From Book, TV Proceeds
  16. ^ Beaufort Books > Books > If I Did It
  17. ^ O.J. Simpson Makes California Tax Delinquent List. WebCPA (19 October 2007).
  18. ^ O.J. Simpson loses DirecTV piracy case - U.S. news - MSNBC.com
  19. ^ The Smoking Gun: Archive
  20. ^ Las Vegas P.D. summary and excerpts of 9/14/07 interview with Simpson (HTML). FindLaw (16 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  21. ^ Las Vegas P.D. summary and excerpts of 9/15/07 interview with Alexander (HTML). FindLaw (16 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  22. ^ "Police: Simpson cooperating in armed robbery probe", CNN, September 14, 2007. 
  23. ^ "O.J. Simpson a Suspect in Casino 'Armed Robbery'", FOXNews, September 14, 2007. 
  24. ^ O.J. Simpson's Las Vegas Police Arrest Report (HTML). FindLaw (16 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  25. ^ a b Nakashima, Ryan. "Apparent tape released of O.J. in Vegas", Associated Press, September 17, 2007. 
  26. ^ State of Nevada v. O.J. Simpson, et al. (HTML). FindLaw (18 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-18.
  27. ^ "OJ Simpson faces break-in charges", BBC, 17 September 2007. 
  28. ^ My Way News - O.J. Simpson Held on Bail Violation
  29. ^ Judge sets $125K bail for O.J. Simpson (HTML). Houston Chronicle (19 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  30. ^ Simpson's Bail Set at $125,000 (HTML). Forbes (19 September 2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-19.
  31. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/15/oj.simpson/index.html
  32. ^ Afp.google.com, 400 jurors could be screened for OJ Simpson trial
  33. ^ O.J. Simpson :: Celebrity gossip juicy celebrity rumors celebrity scandals Hollywood gossip blog from Hollywood Grind
  34. ^ "Day After Judge's Scolding, O.J. Flies Home: Simpson Released From Nevada Prison After Posting Bail", CBS5.com - KPIX TV San Francisco, 17 January 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-18. 
  35. ^ Juiced with O.J. Simpson was a pay per view special featuring O.J. Simpson doing candid camera antics with unsuspecting citizens. When Simpson would reveal that the people were on camera, he would say that they have been "juiced", which is similar to being Punk'd.

External links

Civil and criminal trials

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