O.J. Convicted; Life Sentence Possible

O.J. Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after he was acquitted of murder in 1995, was found guilty Friday of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

It only took the jury one day to reach its verdict, reports CBS News correspondent Manuel Gallegus.

A weary and somber Simpson released a heavy sigh as the charges were read by the clerk in Clark County District Court.

The Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for gathering up five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun.

Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, also was found guilty on all charges in the Las Vegas case.

Sentencing for the 61-year-old former football star was set for Dec. 5.

Journalist Michael Bryant of Legal Edge Network told Early Show anchor Chris Wragge that the verdict could send Simpson to prison for life.

"You're looking at, if you want to do the math here, 132 years to life, if you start calculating each count, plus the enhancement for the use of a gun which could effectively double the years for the count," Bryant said. "Yes, he is 61 years old, and prison at that age is not an easy haul.

"I would be shocked if Simpson gets life in prison based on this," said CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen. "This is a not a 'life in prison' sort of a case. But he's not going to get a slap on the wrist, either, and his chances of getting a new trial on appeal are really remote.

"This was not a complicated case either in law or in fact," Cohen said.

Simpson's girlfriend and his supporters in the courtroom were in tears. The judge then denied a defense request to let the men go free pending appeal.

They were immediately handcuffed cuffed and taken into custody. Simpson showed little emotion as officers walked him out of the courtroom.

His sister, Carmelita Durio, sobbed behind him in the arms of Simpson's friend, Tom Scotto, who said "I love you" as Simpson passed by. As spectators left the courtroom, Durio collapsed.

Simpson's defense was that he only confronted the men so he could get back personal items that were taken from him but prosecutors called it a planned assault with a deadly weapon, saying Simpson was arrogant thinking he could get away with it.

Jurors declined to answer questions after the verdict was read.

The judgment came 13 years to the day after Simpson was cleared of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in Los Angeles in one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century.

"I don't like to use the word payback," defense attorney Yale Galanter said. "I can tell you from the beginning 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."

"Theoretically, you would like to think so," Bryant said, "but we can't get in their heads to find that out. They started with 500 jurors to whittle it down to those who could do just that, but is it really possible? Is it possible to take what you learn so much about so many years ago and just wipe the slate clean? "

Bryant said the question may be moot because of the preponderance of evidence in the Las Vegas case. "The thing you can't forget here is there was a lot of evidence that these crimes took place," he said.

Galanter said his client had expected the outcome, and in a courthouse conversation with an Associated Press reporter on Thursday, Simpson had implied as much.

Simpson said he felt melancholy and that he was "afraid that I won't get to go to my kids' college graduations after I managed to get them through college."

Galanter said it was not a happy day for anybody. "His only hope is the appellate process," he said.

Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said prosecutors would not comment until the case was "completely resolved."

Judge Jackie Glass made no comment other than to thank the jury for its service and to deny motions for the defendants to be released on bail.

She refused to give the lawyers extended time to file a motion for new trial, which under Nevada law must be filed within seven days. The attorneys said they needed time to submit a voluminous record.

"I've sat through the trial," Glass said. "If you want a motion for new trial, send me something."

Stewart's attorney, Brent Bryson, promised to appeal.

"If there was ever a case that should have been severed in the history of jurisprudence, it's this case," he said of unsuccessful attempts to separate Stewart's case from Simpson's because of the "spillover" effect.

From the beginning, Simpson and his lawyers argued the incident was not a robbery, but an attempt to reclaim mementos that had been stolen from him. He said he did not ask anyone to bring a weapon and did not see any guns.

The defense portrayed Simpson as a victim of shady characters who wanted to make a buck off his famous name, and police officers who saw his arrest as an opportunity to "get" him and avenge his acquittal.

Prosecutors said Simpson's ownership of the memorabilia was irrelevant; it was still a crime to try to take things by force.

"When they went into that room and forced the victims to the far side of the room, pulling out guns and yelling, `Don't let anybody out of here!' - six very large people detaining these two victims in the room with the intent to take property through force or violence from them - that's kidnapping," prosecutor David Roger said.

Kidnapping is punishable by five years to life in prison. Armed robbery carries a mandatory sentence of at least two years behind bars, and could bring as much as 30.

Simpson, who now lives in Miami, did not testify but was heard on a recording of the confrontation screaming that the dealers had stolen his property. "Don't let nobody out of this room," he declared and told the other men to scoop up his items, which included a photo of Simpson with former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Four other men charged in the case struck plea bargains that saved them from potential prison sentences in return for their testimony. Some of them had criminal records or were otherwise compromised in some way. One, for example, was an alleged pimp who testified he had a revelation from God telling him to take a plea bargain.

Memorabilia dealer Thomas Riccio, who arranged and secretly recorded the hotel-room confrontation, said he netted $210,000 from the media for the tapes.

Similarly, minutes after the Sept. 13, 2007, incident, one of the alleged victims, sports-memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, was calling news outlets, and the other, Bruce Fromong, spoke of getting "big money" from the case.

"The audiotape recording of the incident overcame, I think, serious doubts that jurors may have had about the credibility and the reliability of the witnesses against Simpson," Cohen told CBS News.

"And when the defense argued that he case turned on Simpson's intent when he went into that hotel room, jurors simply didn't buy that Simpson had any innocent motives."

Simpson's past haunted the case. Las Vegas police officers were heard in the recordings chuckling over Simpson's misfortune and crowing that if Los Angeles couldn't "get" him, they would.

During jury selection, Simpson's lawyers expressed fears that people who believed he got away with murder might see this case as a chance to right a wrong.

As a result, an unusually large pool of 500 potential jurors was called, and they were given a 26-page questionnaire. Half were almost instantly eliminated after expressing strong feelings that Simpson should have been convicted of murder.

The judge instructed the jurors to put aside Simpson's earlier case.

In closing arguments, Galanter acknowledged that what Simpson did to recover his memorabilia was not right. "But being stupid, and being frustrated is not being a criminal," he said.

He added: "This case has taken on a life of its own because of Mr. Simpson's involvement. You know that. I know that. Every cooperator, every person who had a gun, every person who had an ulterior motive, every person who signed a book deal, every person who got paid money, the police, the district attorney's office, is only interested in one thing: Mr. Simpson."