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In New Trial, Simpson Is Demure, but Unbowed In New Trial, Simpson Is Demure but Unbowed
(about 4 hours later)
LAS VEGAS — His hands cuffed to his belt, his legs shackled, O.J. Simpson shuffled to the front of a courtroom here this morning after four years in prison, testifying in an effort to overturn the kidnapping and robbery conviction that sent him to state prison after he was acquitted of the double murder that made him notorious. LAS VEGAS — His hands cuffed to his belt, his legs shackled, O.J. Simpson shuffled to the front of a courtroom here Wednesday after four years in prison, testifying in an effort to overturn the kidnapping and armed robbery conviction that sent him to state prison after he was acquitted of the double- murder that made him notorious.
Mr. Simpson cut a far different figure than he did during the “trial of a century” in Los Angeles in 1995 or as the American hero football player he had once been. At 65 – “nearing 66,” Mr. Simpson said, almost plaintively, his voice clearly audible across the small courtroom here — he is grayer, balder, slightly stooped and heavier. Mr. Simpson cut a far different figure than he did during the “trial of a century” in Los Angeles in 1995 or as the American hero football player he had once been. At 65 — “nearing 66,” Mr. Simpson said, almost plaintively, his voice clearly audible across the small courtroom here — he is grayer, balder, slightly stooped and heavier.
Yet in a morning of answering questions, Mr. Simpson was amiable and unruffled, smiling and even joking as he answered queries about the confrontation in a hotel room here four years ago that led to his conviction on robbery and kidnapping charges and a sentence of up to 33 years in prison. Yet  in three and a half hours of questioning over the course of the day, Mr. Simpson was amiable and unbowed, grinning and even joking as he answered questions from his lawyer and a district attorney about the confrontation in a hotel room here four years ago that led to his conviction on charges of stealing sports memorabilia and a sentence of up to 33 years in state prison.
At one point, Mr. Simpson politely demurred when his attorney, Patricia Palm, offered to walk over to help Mr. Simpson pour a glass of water with the one hand that a court officer had unshackled after he took the witness stand. At another, he nodded when she asked him if he had his reading glasses as she walked over to show him a transcript. At one point, Mr. Simpson politely refused an offer of his lawyer, Patricia Palm, to help him pour a glass of water with the one hand that a court officer had unshackled after he took the witness stand. At another, he nodded when she asked him if he had his reading glasses as she walked over to show him a transcript. And he seemed to enjoy an often lively back-and-forth with Leon Simon, the chief deputy district attorney, who was skeptical of Mr. Simpson’s account of what took place in the hotel room.
Mr. Simpson was once a symbol of spectacle, of an era of televised car chases and round-the-clock crushes of attention from the news media. No more. A dozen members of the public were waiting outside for a seat in the courtroom on the third floor of the Regional Justice Center, and a few were empty by midmorning. There were empty seats in the news media section as well, though the parking lot outside had its share of satellite trucks.  Mr. Simpson was once a symbol of spectacle, of an era of televised car chases and what at the time were novel, round-the-clock crushes of attention from the news media. No more. Only a dozen members of the public were waiting outside for a seat in the courtroom on the third floor of the Regional Justice Center, and a few were empty by mid-morning.
Yet as Mr. Simpson recounted the story of the robbery — he said he was trying to peacefully reclaim at a hotel room some personal items stolen from him and put on the lucrative sports memorabilia market — he remarked on the outsized celebrity he has been, the object of polarized fascination since his transformation from a football star and Hertz pitchman to a man accused of the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in Brentwood, an expensive Los Angeles neighborhood, in 1994. Yet as Mr. Simpson recounted the story of the robbery — he was trying to peacefully reclaim some personal items stolen from him and put on the lucrative sports memorabilia market — he commented on the outsized celebrity he has become, the object of polarized fascination since his transformation from a football star and Hertz pitchman to a man accused of the murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.
Even as he lives out of public sight, Mr. Simpson, a man who clearly continues to pay close attention to his newspaper clippings, remains a subject of what he suggested were wildly inflated accounts of his life.Even as he lives out of public sight, Mr. Simpson, a man who clearly continues to pay close attention to his newspaper clippings, remains a subject of what he suggested were wildly inflated accounts of his life.
“I’ve spent the last four and a half years as the most uneventful four and half years of my life,” he said. “But I still get the headlines in the media. I’m getting married to a guy. I got cut up.” “I’ve spent the last four and a half years as the most uneventful four and half years of my life,” he said. “But I still get the headlines in the media. ‘I’m getting married to a guy. I got cut up.’”
Mr. Simpson appeared to view his life’s decline with an almost dry wit. When he was asked about the $350,000 he paid to a lawyer who represented him in the original trial here — one of the grounds of the appeal is that his lawyers were incompetent — he just shrugged. When he was asked about the $350,000 he paid to a lawyer who represented him in the original trial here, he just shrugged.
“I thought it was kind of expensive,” he said. “But I’ve spent a lot of money on lawyers in the past. This was nothing.” But, he quickly added, “it meant more to me this time because it came out of my pension.” “It was kind of expensive,” he said. “But I’ve spent a lot of money on lawyers in the past. This was nothing.”
Although Mr. Simpson was acquitted in the killings, he lost a civil suit and was ordered to pay $33.5 million to the estates of Ms. Simpson and Mr. Goldman. Mr. Simpson was, in effect, giving the testimony he never gave in his 2008 trial.
On Wednesday, Mr. Simpson was, in effect, giving the testimony he never gave in his 2008 trial, when he was convicted of being one of a gang of men who barged into a hotel room and stole sports memorabilia, including many items that came from Mr. Simpson. He was convicted of kidnapping and robbery and sentenced to up to 33 years in jail. Mr. Simpson said that he had gone to the hotel room to retrieve his personal belongings − including signed footballs and what he had thought were family photographs, including one of him with J. Edgar Hoover — after an auction dealer alerted him that they were being sold. He said his lawyer told him that his method of retrieval was legal as long as he did not trespass or use force.
Mr. Simpson said that he had gone to the hotel room to retrieve his personal belongings, including signed footballs and what he had thought were family photographs, including one of him with J. Edgar Hoover, after an auction dealer he knew had alerted him that they were being sold. He said he had followed a lawyer’s advice who said it was legal to do that, as long as he did not trespass or use force. Despite testimony to the contrary at his earlier trial, he said there had been no discussion of using weapons in taking back his property.
He said that upon entering, he was enraged to see one of his friends there who, he said, had stolen material from his home. And he said, despite testimony to the contrary at his earlier trial, there had been no discussion of using weapons in taking back his property. “It was my stuff,”  Mr. Simpson said. “I followed what I thought was the law. I didn’t break into the room. I didn’t beat up anyone. I didn’t try to muscle anyone.”
“It was my stuff,” Mr. Simpson said. “I followed what I thought was the law. I didn’t break into the room. I didn’t beat up anyone. I didn’t try to muscle anyone.” Ms. Palm asked Mr. Simpson repeatedly if he had been drinking before that the robbery took place, one of the many grounds upon which Mr. Simpson is seeking a new trial. Mr. Simpson, archly, noted that he was in Las Vegas for a friend’s wedding.
Ms. Palm asked Mr. Simpson repeatedly if he had been drinking in the days before that the robbery took place, one of the many grounds upon which Mr. Simpson is seeking a new trial. Mr. Simpson noted that he was in Las Vegas for a celebration, a friend’s wedding, and that he most certainly had been drinking. “I wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of a car,” he said. “I’m in Las Vegas! I’m in Las Vegas with a lot of friends.”
There was the “Bloody Mary, or two” for breakfast (he had slept in that morning, missing a golf game, after a heavy night of drinking the night before). That afternoon by the pool, he told a cocktail waitress that he was under doctor’s orders never to carry an empty glass, he said. Later, he and his compatriots met at a bar in preparation for going to the hotel room where his material was being held.There was the “Bloody Mary, or two” for breakfast (he had slept in that morning, missing a golf game, after a heavy night of drinking the night before). That afternoon by the pool, he told a cocktail waitress that he was under doctor’s orders never to carry an empty glass, he said. Later, he and his compatriots met at a bar in preparation for going to the hotel room where his material was being held.
So was he intoxicated?
“I wouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel of a car,” he said. “I’m in Las Vegas! I’m in Las Vegas with a lot of friends. Yes, we were in a very celebrative mood.”
After the confrontation at the hotel, Mr. Simpson joined friends for dinner at a Las Vegas restaurant. He told Ms. Palm that he suspected then he was in trouble — at least in the court of the tabloid media — even as he insisted that he never did anything wrong.After the confrontation at the hotel, Mr. Simpson joined friends for dinner at a Las Vegas restaurant. He told Ms. Palm that he suspected then he was in trouble — at least in the court of the tabloid media — even as he insisted that he never did anything wrong.
“Here we go again: I’m going to need a bail bondsman,” he said, recalling what he said that night. “I’ve gone through a couple of incidents before I thought was nothing that the media ended up making a big deal. Here we go again. There’s no way this is not going to be made a big deal.” “Here we go again: I’m going to need a bail bondsman,” he said, recalling what he said that night. “I’ve gone through a couple of incidents before that I thought was nothing the media ended up making a big deal. Here we go again. There’s no way this is not going to be made a big deal.”