Seeking retrial, OJ Simpson says didn’t break law

OJ Simpson AP PHOTO

LOS ANGELES—Jailed sports star O.J. Simpson insisted Wednesday he did nothing illegal on the night of a September 2007 casino hotel robbery, and had no idea men with him had guns, as he sought a retrial.

The 65-year-old former American footballer and actor, who did not testify at his 2008 trial, appeared relaxed as he gave a blow-by-blow account of the events of September 13, 2007 in Las Vegas.

Simpson, who acknowledged that he had been drinking heavily ahead of the incident, is seeking a retrial on grounds that his longtime lawyer Yale Galanter had botched his defense.

Dressed in a blue prison outfit, Simpson said he did not knowingly break the law on the day he and five associates seized what he believed were his own stolen belongings from two sports memorabilia dealers.

“It was my stuff. I followed what I thought was the law… I didn’t break into anybody’s room, I didn’t beat up anybody, I didn’t try to muscle the guys,” he told the court in Las Vegas.

“The guys acknowledged it was my stuff, even though they claimed they didn’t steal it.”

Simpson — famously acquitted for the 1994 murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown — said nobody discussed using guns before he and his cohorts — two of whom turned out to be armed — entered the hotel room to reclaim the belongings.

“There was no talk about guns at all,” said Simpson, who was shackled at the wrists and ankles when brought into court, although one of the handcuffs was removed while he gave testimony.

Simpson is serving nine to 33 years in a Nevada state penitentiary, after being convicted in October 2008 of armed robbery, assault and kidnapping over the robbery, which was infamously caught on security camera footage.

In a 94-page petition, Simpson alleges Galanter knew of his intention to recover personal items that he was ultimately convicted of trying to steal at gunpoint from two memorabilia dealers at the Palace Station hotel.

He also claims that Galanter did not tell him about a plea bargain offer that might have resulted in a substantially shorter period behind bars.

In court, Simpson said he had been drinking because he was in Vegas for a best friend’s wedding. He canceled a golf game in the morning after staying up late, and had two Bloody Marys at a late breakfast around noon.

He kept drinking as the wedding party relaxed around the hotel pool. “I had a joke: ‘My doctor says I should never have an empty glass’ is what I would tell the waitress,” he told the court, smiling.

Having discussed the situation with his lawyer and others, he headed over with a group of men to confront other the pair purportedly offering to sell belongings including signed balls and other treasured personal items.

“I walked in and I was kind of stunned, ’cause I was looking at stuff that I hadn’t seen for 10 years,” he said.

The two men involved, one of whom Simpson knew well, allowed them to take the belongings. Simpson said he only learned afterward that guns had been involved.

“I would not have imagined in my wildest dreams that these guys would have guns,” he said.

Explaining why he wanted to reclaim the memorabilia, Simpson said they were personal items that belonged to his family and his children, “not some guy selling at a hotel room in Vegas.”

Despite protesting his innocence from the first, Simpson recalled that he was unsurprised at how the media had reported the case.

“I’ve gone through a couple of incidents before that I thought was nothing the media ended up making a big deal. Here we go again. There’s no way this is not going to be made a big deal,” he said.