Of people but that was not the true impetus for what happened here. The true impetus was there were i minute mitt family photos taken from him. Literally stolen. No dispute these would not be any type of judgment, collections. Just intimate family photos. Mr. Simpson had a second, another family, pictures of his mother, with famous celebrities and probably have no value to most people but they have all the value in the world to mr. Simpson. Theyre not footballs. And thats what set it off and mr. Beardsley had these photos or represented to me on the phone he had these photos and i made every effort in i could to try and obtain those intimate family photos that i was well aware of were basically all mr. Simpson wanted in the first place. Unfortunately whatever happened, mr. Beardsley was never able to get those to me. He explained he had them and i tried to make every effort to get those from him and then at some point along the line we lost contact and then i just discovered he had passed away. But i will speak on mr. Beardsley behalf from that phone conversation at least as of september of 2011, him and mr. Simpson had made things right. Okay . And finally, and again, obviously, the commission is not used to hearing where victims are consulting people who are in prison their attorneys and having multiple conversations with them. I also had mr. Fromong, bruce fro morni fromong who will testify shortly called my office, years ago. I cant remember the substance of the conversations. They werent recorded. If they were i couldnt find them in my files but hes recently called again. He called me july 3rd and july 14th and both times i missed the calls and called him back. I can hear the, that mr. Fromong made things and mr. Simpson have made things right with each other. That hes accepted mr. Simpsons apology wholeheartedly. He seems to be fundamentally really, really a good guy whos fallen on hard times recently, and he told me he would be calling and coming in and testifying favorably for mr. Simpson. I made sure i told him probably 15 or 20 times to say whatever he wanted to say, because you know, obviously, mr. Simpsons attorney talking to a victim, i ive come here, spent nine years making no excuses about thinking. I am sorry that things turned out the way they did. I had no intent to commit a crime, i came here, i tell the inmates all the time, man, i dont want to hear about your crime. You know. Argue in court, here, were all convicts. Im a convict. Do your time. I told the warden when i got here, mr. Legrange, miss carpenter that i would be no problem. I believe in this jury system. I will honor what the jury says. And i will be no problem. You know, and i think i kept my word. Like i said, ive done my time. Id just like to get back to my family and friends, and believe it or not, i do have some real friends, but i dont think i could have represented this will prison i dont think any inmate has represented it better than i. I did my time, i tried to be helpful to everybody. And as i said, bruce, bruce beardsly, i made up with him years ago. You know, so, im sorry to nevada. I wish i wish he wouldnt have ever called me. I thought i was glad to get my stuff back, but it wasnt worth it. Nine years away from your family is just not worth it. Im sorry. Thank you. Just one more thing, for the record, your expiration is as of today, 9 20 22 how in the world that adds up to 33 years, in the state of nevada, good behavior, complying with the rules can mean up to a 50 reduction off the back end of your sentence, if granted parol, that september 29, 2022 time could even move closer. So i wanted to put that on the record. And at this point, ill ask if you will move them again and we invite them to the table, please. O. J. Simpson having his final word. The hearing is not over. But after being somewhat combative earlier on, a bit more contrite there as he expressed his regret and remorse. Id like to thank you for the opportunity to be able to speak today. First and foremost, id like to say the that im not here just as mr. Simpsons friend of almost 27 years, because that i am. But today im also appearing as the victim of the crime on september 30th or september 13th, of 2007. On that day i felt that mr. Simpson was misguided, and not by himself, but also by tom reese owe. On the day, there were going to be thousands of pieces of memorabilia, pictures of his wife from his first marriage. Pictures of his kids, arnelle, jason, family hair looms. He was told his wifes wedding ring. Thousands of things. It was misled about what was going to be there that day. A man named Thomas Riccio promised him this big big package. In reality thomas had never met me. He got there and saw this i had went down, he got omt j. , and instead of telling him thats not what was there. He brought him up anyway. When o. J. Got there, and first thing he was already worked up, and had people with him that were hollering and screaming. There was a lot of commotion going on in a very, very small room. Real small room, wasnt it, o. J. . And a lot of things happened very quickly. And unfortunately, if o. J. Had said everybody out of here, o. J. Bruce and i need to talk for a minute, none of this needed to happen. But that didnt happen. And it took one of the things i want to make clear, it took two years in a California Court because and a judges infinite wisdom instead of going ahead and turning things back over, everything got sent to a California Court to get straightened out. And after having to fight the goldmans lawyers, o. J. s lawyers, and it took me two years to get back with over 600 items, a majority of it did come back to me. I had to go back 19 years of our friendship, 19 years, produce records for almost 98 of the stuff. It is true that items in the room belong to o. J. And there were no two ways about it. But its also true that i have never stolen anything from o. J. I did not i have never stolen from o. J. And i think o. J. Will admit that i did not ever take anything from you. It wasnt me. An expartner of mine and his miss stress, kristy luckenmire have taken things, other people have taken things from o. J. I have never stolen from o. J. O. J. Is my friend, always has been, and i hope will remain my friend. There were things in my room and i would admit to that. Im sorry things did not work out. Flfs a coward in that room man named mcclinton came up, gangster style, acting like a big man. He held the gun on me, not o. J. Another man came in, hit me, not o. J. He never layed a hand on me. A lot of people were yelling, bag that stuff up. Lets get out of here. During the trial, after id already testified against omt j. , and this is why i absolutely believe him. After id already testified against o. J. , id already said everything i had to say, we happened to pass each other in the hallway, and o. J. Came up to me and said, can i talk to you for a minute . And we had a chance to talk to each other, and i told him, im sorry that i did not get the opportunity to call him and tell him that i had that inside. Those few items that belonged to him i told him im sorry that i did not take the opportunity to call him. Because wed been apart for a long time. We hadnt had a chance to talk for many, many years. And id be buying stuff from mike gilbert, and i wish i had of. And he said, bruce, i cant tell you how sorry i am. And weve got a saying between us, it is what it is. And he put his hand out, i shook his hand, and i said, i forgive you. We all make mistakes. O. J. Made his. Hes been here, and from im told, hes been a model inmate. Hes been an example to others. During the trial, i recommended that he serve one to three years. Thats what i recommended to the d. A. And im here to say that, ive known o. J. For a long time. I dont feel that hes a threat to anyone out there. Hes a good man. I know that he does a lot for other people. And i feel that nine and a half to 33 years was way too long. And i feel that its time to give him a Second Chance its time he go home to his family, his friends hes a good man. He made a mistake. And if he call med tomorrow and said bruce, im getting out, will you pick me up . Ill be here tomorrow for you. I mean that, buddy. Thank you. We appreciate your comments and we appreciate you being present today, thank you. Thanks for this opportunity. Youre welcome. Mr. Leverne and mr. Simpson, if youll return to the table please. Before we break for deliberation, i want to ask the panel if there are any last questions. Anything . Okay. Whats going to happen now is deliberation, again, another thing we do with every single case, but a little differently today because frankly we need our offices back, folks. So were hoping to deliberate, come to an agreement, and be able to produce an order some time in the next 30 minutes or so. So, whats going to happen is we are going to break, if and then after deliberating, well come back to this room. Ill ask each commissioner to vote. Ill vote myself. If we are able to agree when those votes are cast, that will be a final decision if it becomes obvious that there is a split on this particular panel, i have commissioners eddie gray and commissioner michael keeler, standby in las vegas. And they will either we will call them, ask to return to deliberations. So that is what were planning at this moment. We are about to leave the room. I know officer batista is going to arrange to clear the courtroom there also. I ask that here that you give us about two minutes to clear out of the room so that youre not chasing us down the hall. And then well give you a five minute notice that our deliberation is over and that were ready to cast votes. So, on that, i will call this hearing into recess and we will return after deliberation. You have been watching something extraordinary. Something i dont believe weve ever covered and most of us have probably not witnessed, a parol hearing. In this case, its one of the most infamous convicts in modern history. O. J. Simpson, who has served nine years in a nevada prison on robbery, Armed Robberyrelated charges. But of course, Savannah Guthrie puts our focus on him is because of what happened in 1995. His acquittal in a murder trial. Once again, brings the spotlight into the judicial system. It was the trial of the century, now its the parol hearing of the century. And fascinating to watch the various forms of o. J. Simpson we saw during this hearing. Supposed to be 15 minutes, its now been an hour and 15 minutes. There were times we were looking at each other, it seems o. J. Simpson was combative. Sticking to his story that this wasnt a robbery because those items, those personal items belonged to him. Almost retrying the case. Debatable assumption. He was convicted of those crimes, it demonstrates for him not understanding the nature of the crime for which he was convicted. Later though, he said, im sorry, i wish it hadnt turned out this way. Now the commissioners go back. They need four votes. There are four there. If all four agree, he will be paroled and get out as early as october. This is a half hour of them deliberating then a five minute warning and come back. We will of course come back on the air with that. Still a little more business to bring. We to want bring in christopher darden, a name youll recall. Part of a Prosecution Team during the criminal murder trial against o. J. Simpson in 1995. Were all very interested in your take on the attitude and what we heard from o. J. Simpson, mr. Darden. Well, ive got to tell you, im a little heated. You know, not just the parol hearing of the century, its sort of the bssession of the century too. You know, when i appear in court and try cases and evidence is presented, you know, we have a judge there who tries to ensure that what comes out of the mouths of witnesses is the truth. And this process doesnt seem to rely very much on the truth. On the one hand, were told that you cant consider what happened in 1995. Okay. But then on the other hand, they allow mr. Simpson to make these statements that i was a good guy on the street. Well, no, you werent because you repeatedly beat your wife. You beat your wife on occasions to a point that she fled her own home in the middle of the night, naked. He says, i would never pull a weapon on anybody. No one has ever accused me of pulling a weapon on them. Well, no one ever accused him of pulling a weapon on them because the people he pulled the weapon on are dead. And werent in a position to accuse him later. But i certainly accused him of drawing a weapon, and using a weapon on ron and nicole in 1994. But hes allowed to sit there and make these broad statements as if he is this socalled good guy. And has always led this good guy lifestyle. How do you think that will sit with the commissioners who are certainly aware of the history here . He did say, and im quoting, ive lived a conflictfree life and i like you thought of the 911 calls featuring his wife, screaming for her life, and you can hear o. J. Simpson in the background, so that is demons ra bli untrue. Lester and i were remarking about those moments where he did seem to antagonize the board. But do you get the sense that this will effect the ultimate decision of whether or not these commissioners let him go . I dont know whether or not theyll discuss the 95 case. They say they wont, but on the other hand, if youre looking at o. J. Simpson to assess whether or not hes truly remorseful how can you find that he is . If you know that he is sitting in front of you lying . Over and over again. The notion that he rehabilitative, accepted responsibility for his conduct in this case. What does he say . I wish it had never happened. He blames the guy that had a concealed weapon permit. So you knew he was armed. You bring him to the room and simpson says, well, i didnt know he pointed a gun at someone. Well, why did you bring a man with a gun to the room in the first place . I mean, i dont buy that. I dont believe that. There was a moment when the 1995 trial was brought up. It was brought up by one of the commissioners, susan jackson, i want to play that then well continue our discussion. We received hundreds letters of support and opposition, the majority of the opposition letters are asking us to consider your 1995 acquittal and subsequent civil judgment, however, these items will not considered in this case. Thank you. Thank you. I dont know if she was speaking for herself that she wont consider it or if that was a decision of the board itself. You obviously are very close to this and we understand this, taken though as an Armed Robbery and as a nine year sentence, any other case would you think that this is a case thats a slam dunk for parol . Well, i can tell you this, o. J. Simpson is convinced that he is about to get a parol day. He is laid back and, you know, easy and feels like theres no way he wont get a parol. Nine years on a robbery, where the individual is not armed. I dont think that that is an outrageous sentence. I would not complain if an individual with no criminal history committed a robbery where he did not physically harm the victim. And was not armed. I would consider a nine year sentence more than fair. But not in this case, not with o. J. Simpson . His case is different. When you line people up, when you say dont let anybody leave this room and you say it to a guy with a handgun, that i think changes everything. I think the victims at that point are far more vulnerable to being injured, of being killed. You know, they talk about it as a robbery, but its not a robbery, its a kidnapping. And he was convicted of those counts. He has in fact served nine years. The question is will he serve additional days . Additional years and he could if he is not paroled today. Lets go to Cynthia Mcfadden who is the Senior Investigative correspondent. Ill put the same question, a lot of people at this and say based on the facts of this case, was this an overcharge . Was he sentenced with frankly hanging over the air the case that many, many people think justice was not done and that is the double murder trial for which he was acquitted. Yeah, savannah, i think it would be hard to find many people who think that an Armed Robbery would normally get 33 years in prison. I think, you know, there had to be some shades of what, you know, you have to couldnt pretend you didnt know what lay in the background. I dont think mr. Simpson did himself good for the beginning what have he had to say to the panel. Not only combative and cocky it seemed to me, but he also didnt do something he promised the parol board he would do back in 2013 when he last appeared in front of them, which was a attend aa classes. So you know, and he had same lamebrained excuse about that. I didnt think things were going well. I actually think his best hope comes with the victim who testified saying that he had forgiven mr. Simpson with mr. Simpsons daughter and at the very end he says hes sorry. I have to say, i thought the beginning of the hearing was a disaster for him. And he didnt perform anywhere near as well as he had at the 2013 hearing. I think chris darden is right, i think he went in the room believing he was going to get parol and he, he was trying to make his case. The public fascination with this case is never ending. Even the lead commissioner, there noted they were doing things a little differently because of the incredible attention. The court of a Public Opinion has continued to watch o. J. Simpson since 1995, last year, nbc news wall street journal poll brought up the question about o. J. Simpsons copability in the murders he was accused of of his wife and friend. In june of last year, 69 of registered voters believe that simpson did commit the murders. That was an alltime high. Only 7 said he did not. So even after all of these years, people are still litigating that case and that make no mistake, thats the case, not this one that creates the interest were seeing here. Absolutely. But for some people, the people that feel that was a travesty of justice in 1995 that he walked on those charges, many people took comfort, carpalic comfort that in the sense, all right, he is behind bars. Chris darden would probably put himself in that category, would you, chris . Well, you know you know, its really not my call. And, you know, i cant spend my life worrying about o. J. s whereabouts as long as he isnt standing behind me with a butcher knife. But when i think about this hearing and i think the victim testimony, and usually victim impact testimony is powerful testimony. But here, it seems as if the victim has a monetary interest in o. J. Simpson being released. Simpsons lawyer eluded to some judgment and some ongoing civil litigation in california that he wanted o. J. Simpson to take care of. And it sounds to me he wants o. J. Simpson out so o. J. Simpson can pay off a judgment. You know, thats strange. And it would cause me as a commissioner to question just how important or how much weight to lend to the victims testimony. I want to go out to joe frier right now who is in lovelock outside the prison. Hes been following developments there. We heard just part of a recess, they