O.J. Simpson has served nine years of his 33-year prison sentence, but he might get out soon.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer was charged with and found guilty on 12 counts, including criminal conspiracy, burglary, robbery, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in 2008 after he and three other men tried to reclaim sports memorabilia in a Las Vegas robbery. Simpson has been at Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada ever since, but the 69-year-old is up for parole this summer.
And legal experts believe there’s a good chance he’ll get it, according to Sports Illustrated’s Jon Wertheim and legal analyst Michael McCann, a University of New Hampshire law professor.
“The decision to grant parole is, by definition, discretionary,” Wertheim and McCann wrote Tuesday. “But it is a decision that Thomas Patton, a former chairman of the parole board in Nevada, stresses is conducted through a ‘very comprehensive review,’ weighing 11 largely objective factors. Between -1 and +2 points are allocated for each criterion. Inmates exceeding five points are classified as a ‘medium’ or ‘high’ risk and are unlikely to be granted parole. Score fewer than five points, and odds swing the other way. In 2013, Simpson scored three points, falling into the ‘low risk’ category. He seems likely to do well again in 2017.”
SI tallied Simpson’s points, and he scored between zero and two, making him a good parole candidate. Las Vegas criminal defense attorney Daniel Hill added that Simpson is “the kind of person who gets paroled.”
Of course, if Simpson is granted parole, he won’t be free as a bird. The release would be conditional, and Simpson would have to meet regularly with a parole officer, would need permission to leave the state and would be subject to searches of his person, home and car. If he were to violate any condition of his parole, he could be sent back to prison.
Thumbnail photo via YouTube/ABC News
