LAS VEGAS — A fuller-faced O.J. Simpson walked slowly into a courtroom here Monday wearing wrist shackles and a blue jail jumpsuit as he seeks a new trial in his 2008 sports memorabilia robbery and kidnapping conviction that sent him to prison.
The disgraced former standout NFL running back and Heisman Trophy winner smiled and raised his eyebrows toward several friends and family members as marshals led him into a crowded courtroom before Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marie Bell.
Simpson, 65, still maintains that he didn’t know that two of the five men with him that night at the Palace Station hotel brought guns, according to The Associated Press.
Simpson says his trial attorney, Yale Galanter, never told him that the prosecutors had offered a plea bargain. He also said in a sworn statement that the same lawyer “advised me that I was within my legal rights” to attempt the memorabilia sting that led to the arrest.
Simpson and Galanter are expected to take the stand in the retrial hearing, which is expected to last a week. Simpson will be 70 before being eligible for parole.
Simpson appeared decidedly heavier and grayer than he was when convicted.
