O.J. Simpson appeal rejected by Nevada Supreme Court
LAS VEGAS -- Imprisoned former NFL star O.J. Simpson lost his latest appeal of his 2008 kidnapping and armed robbery conviction in Las Vegas.
A three-member Nevada Supreme Court panel rejected Simpson's request for a new trial, ruling in a 16-page order Thursday that there was no reason to overturn a lower court judge's decisions in the case.
Simpson's lawyers filed the appeal last October, arguing that Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell was wrong to deny Simpson a new trial on charges related to a botched hotel room heist that landed him in prison for nine to 33 years.
Simpson's lawyers argued that his trial attorney mishandled his case and had conflicts of interests. The three attorneys didn't immediately respond to messages late Thursday.
Simpson, 68, is serving his sentence in a northern Nevada prison after a jury found him guilty of multiple felonies for leading five other men in a September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel. Two of the men with Simpson testified they brought guns, at Simpson's request.
The NFL Hall of Fame member and former television and movie star didn't testify at his robbery trial in Las Vegas. His attorneys claimed that he was just trying to retrieve items stolen from him after his 1995 acquittal in Los Angeles in the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
The Nevada Supreme Court rejected a previous Simpson appeal in September 2010.
Four men who were with Simpson pleaded guilty before trial to felonies and served probation. One co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, was jailed alongside Simpson but later freed after the Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling it was tainted by Simpson's fame.
