O.J. Simpson Can Go Free, Parole Board Rules
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/us/oj-simpson-parole.html
紐約時報
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑAUPDATED 4:16 PM
大意：
Simpson 不是因為很久以前的那葛謀殺案被關，而是在 2007 年的時候在
賭城拉斯維加斯的飯店參與了集體搶劫，而被判決 33 年的有期徒刑。
根據相關規定，他最早可以在今年十月一日假釋出獄，而今天是假釋聽證
會，因為 Simpson 很有名，所以不少媒體都有直播這場聽證會。
因為他的良好表現，再加上他這個月也要 70 歲了，所以聽證會決定通過
他的申請。所以十月他就可以出乃玩惹 YA ~
O. J. Simpson, the former football hero and actor whose good-guy
image vanished when he was accused of murdering his ex-wife and
her friend, will go free after serving nine years in a Nevada
prison on charges stemming from an armed robbery, a state parole
board ruled on Thursday.
Mr. Simpson, who turned 70 this month, went before the board as a
man convicted of taking a group of accomplices, two of them armed
with guns, to a cheap Las Vegas hotel room in 2007 to take
hundreds of items from a sports memorabilia dealer. But it is the
1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, for which
he was acquitted after the most-watched trial in history, that
have cast the longer, darker shadow over his life and reputation.
After his conviction in 2008, a judge sentenced Mr. Simpson nine
to 33 years in state prison, meaning that he becomes eligible for
parole for the first time on Oct. 1. Based on his age and the fact
that he has been a model prisoner, the Nevada Board of Parole
Commissioners granted his release the first time it was
considered, rather than denying parole and making him wait years
for another chance.
What happened at the hearing
Mr. Simpson, wearing a light blue denim shirt and looking
considerably thinner than at a hearing in 2013, walked into the
hearing just after 1 p.m. Eastern. As the chairwoman of the parole
board, Connie Bisbee, read the charges he was convicted of, he
heaved a sigh and grimaced.
When Ms. Bisbee slipped and said Mr. Simpson was 90 years old, not
70, he said, “I feel like it, though.”
Continue reading the main story
Under questioning by parole commissioners, Mr. Simpson stuck to
a version of the robbery that, as the board member Tony Corda
said, “differs a little from the official record.”
He insisted that the items he took from the memorabilia dealer,
Bruce Fromong, whom he knew well, were his property. And he said
he was not aware at the time that two of the men he took to the
hotel room, whom he referred to as “security guys,” brandished
guns.
He said he had never brandished a weapon at anyone, and never
would, adding, “I basically have spent a conflict-free life.”
Mr. Simpson’s daughter Arnelle Simpson testified to the board
on behalf of his family. “We just want him to come home,” she
said.
“My experience with him is that he’s like my best friend and my
rock,” said Ms. Simpson, 48, who is the oldest of Mr. Simpson’s
four children. “I know that he is remorseful, he is truly
remorseful.”
Ms. Simpson and other members of his family live in California.
Mr. Simpson lived most of his life in California, but in the years
leading up to his conviction, he lived in Florida.
Terms of parole
When Mr. Simpson leaves prison, will he be able to have a beer? He
may not — parolees usually face numerous restrictions that do
not apply to most people. Typically, they are required to appear
for regular check-ins, submit to drug and alcohol tests, and
cooperate with their parole officer, who can send violators back
behind bars.
原來米國的假釋制度規定出乃玩之後是不能喝酒的啊...
In Nevada, the standard conditions of parole require the parolee
to get permission before moving, refrain from drinking alcohol or
carrying a weapon of any kind, and seek and maintain a job.
Parolees may not associate with anyone who has a criminal record.
A parole board official, David Smith, spoke at a news conference
after the decision of release was announced. He cited Mr. Simpson’
s positive record in prison, a minimal record of prior
convictions, his participation in programs addressing the behavior
that led to incarceration, and family support as factors in his
release.
Background on his criminal and civil trials
Mr. Simpson’s felony convictions came 13 years to the day after a
Los Angeles jury found him not guilty of murdering Ms. Simpson
and Mr. Goldman after one of the longest and most-watched criminal
cases in history.
In 1997, in a civil trial, another jury found that Mr. Simpson was
responsible for their deaths, and awarded their families $33.5
million in damages; he has paid a tiny fraction of that amount.
The shadow of the murders
What makes Mr. Simpson’s case unique, of course, is that people
watching it have a different case in mind, the 1994 double murder.
It did not help matters that the 2007 robbery occurred on the same
day as the release of “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer,”
a book based on interviews Mr. Simpson gave, describing — in
theory, hypothetically — how he could have carried out the
murders.
One of his lawyers, Yale Galanter, has said that the charges filed
against Mr. Simpson were excessive, and has suggested that the
prosecutors and jurors were influenced by the earlier case. Though
jurors were prohibited from considering any outside factors, “my
biggest concern was whether or not the jury would be able to
separate their very strong feelings about Mr. Simpson and judge
him fairly and honestly,” Mr. Galanter said after the 2008
conviction.
The Clark County district attorney at the time, David J. Roger,
and members of the jury have insisted that their actions were no
more than a reflection of the crimes Mr. Simpson committed in that
Las Vegas hotel.
Biographies point a spotlight
After years of slowly fading into obscurity, Mr. Simpson was
shoved back into the spotlight last year by two high-profile
television projects. ESPN’s “O. J.: Made in America,” a
multipart, nearly eight-hour documentary that won an Academy
Award, spanned his life story: poor child in San Francisco, sports
star in college and the N.F.L., charming pitchman and actor,
abusive husband, California defendant and, finally, Nevada
convict.
FX’s “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” a
mini-series dramatizing the murder investigation and trial, won
several Emmy Awards.
5.備註:
※ 一個人一天只能張貼一則新聞，被刪或自刪也算額度內，超貼者水桶，請注意
這算是米國大伯大嬸們今天關注的日常新聞ㄅ