Simpson jury: We didn't need witnesses to convict
10/5/2008, 10:52 p.m. EDT
By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jurors who convicted O.J. Simpson of armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas say they relied more on video and other documented evidence than on witness testimony.
Juror Michelle Lyons said Sunday that the panelists felt they "could not rely on that witness testimony."
She says jurors instead used video, audio and documented evidence to evaluate whether Simpson was guilty of each of 12 counts. She was one of seven jurors to speak to reporters.
Jury foreman Paul Connelly says it might have been a waste for prosecutors to give plea deals to several Simpson co-defendants in exchange for their testimony.
The 61-year-old Simpson was convicted Friday of charges stemming from a hotel room last year. Sentencing is set for December.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — O.J. Simpson is being isolated from other prisoners for his own safety but continues to hope for a new trial and a strong bid to reverse his conviction for kidnapping and robbery, his lawyer said Sunday.
Attorney Yale Galanter told The Associated Press that Simpson will be living a lonely life, advised by his lawyers to do no media interviews and allowed to see only family members and a few friends placed on a special list at the jail.
Simpson will be held in the Clark County Detention Center until his Dec. 5 sentencing and then is expected to be moved to state prison. Galanter said he will pursue a request for Simpson to be released on bond during the appeals process.
But because of the seriousness of the charges, Simpson would probably remain in jail during an appeal. Galanter said an appeal cannot be filed until after sentencing.
"We've been painted as an all-white jury who hates O.J., and that's just not true," Pettit said.
Jurors concluded that without the recordings, the prosecution might not have won convictions.
"It would have been a very weak case," Pettit said. Juror David Wieberg chimed in, "Yes, a weak case," and other jurors nodded in agreement.
Asked why they convicted Stewart, whom some observers saw as a minor player, juror Teresa Owens said: "The thing that clinched it for me is he drove the car. He walked out with items. He came out of that room with items that didn't belong to him."
Said juror Consuelo Saldivar: "He didn't leave. If he walked in and saw what was going on, he could have walked out."
He then continued to participate in a cover-up, jurors said, which made him a conspirator.
Simpson's lawyer Yale Galanter told The Associated Press earlier Sunday that the former Heisman Trophy winner is hoping for a new trial and a strong bid to reverse his conviction. He is being isolated from other prisoners in the Clark County Detention Center for his own safety, and is allowed to see only family members and a few friends, he said.
Simpson will be held in the Clark County Detention Center until his sentencing in December and then is expected to be moved to state prison. Galanter said he will pursue a request for Simpson to be released on bond during the appeals process.
"He's disappointed and a bit melancholy," Galanter said.
Pettit, the juror, said she did not care what sentence Simpson got.
"If he walked out of there, I don't care," she said. "If he lives his life happily ever after, I don't care."
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Associated Press writer Oskar Garcia contributed to this report.
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2 comments:
Guilty or not, based on what the jurors have been saying to the press, Simpson did not get a fair trail. The jury seems to have convicted him before they every began deliberation.
This verdict was nothing more than people trying to write a last chapter to Mr. Simpson’s life. This is all about what happened 13 years ago, not what happened in Vegas. These Jurors did not hear that the tapes could have been altered and relied on them and not the witnesses. Why did they was the money on the trial? The Attorney’s did not pick these Jurors; they were stuck with these Jurors. I thought we had a few intelligent individuals in this country, but then again people did vote for Bush for President twice and look at the status of our country is in. So to all you that do not live in Vegas, my feeling is Boycott the place like I’m going to do as we know now: WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS IS PROSICUTED IN VEGAS BY CORRUPTED INDIVDUALS.
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