O.J. Simpson, judge and attorneys: actions were ‘stupid’

By Melissa Arseniuk

Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008 | 12:23 a.m.

O.J. Simpson, his lawyer, Yale Galanter, and the judge who sent him to jail for 33 years yesterday, Jackie Glass, agree on one thing: O.J. Simpson is behind bars this morning because of sheer stupidity.

A jury on Oct. 3 convicted Simpson of 12 charges, including robbery, kidnapping and assault with the use of a deadly weapon. Though he faced a possible life term, Glass was sentenced him on Friday to 33 years in prison with no chance of parole until 2017.

Though the defense disagreed with the penalty – they were hoping to receive the minimum sentence, six years – both Simpson and his attorney agreed with the judge that the things Simpson did inside a Palace Station hotel room on Sept 13, 2007 were “stupid.”

“I wasn’t there to hurt anybody, I just wanted my personal things and I realize now it was stupid of me,” Simpson said of the altercation involving him and five others who confronted and robbed two memorabilia dealers last fall.

“I’m sorry,” Simpson said. “I didn’t mean to steal anything from anybody and I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal.”

Galanter preceded Simpson’s comments and explicitly volunteered his own thoughts about what unfolded in room 1203 that day.

“My client’s acts were beyond stupid, reeked of stupidity, and I make no bones about it,” he said.

Galanter referenced Simpson’s “stupidity” over half a dozen times during his nine-minute speech. He said “stupid” or “stupidity” eight times during his address, in addition to jabs like “not bright, not smart, not well thought-out.”

While Glass appeared to agree with the men, she said the issue at hand went beyond whether or not Simpson’s actions were dumb.

“I have to tell you now, it was much more than stupidity,” she said before noting the run-in “was actually a very violent event.”

“Earlier in this case at a bail hearing … I said to Mr. Simpson that I didn’t know if he was arrogant or ignorant or both. And during the trial and through this proceeding I got the answer, and it was both,” she said.

The judge reviewed the details of the case against the former NFL great, including the secretly-recorded audio tapes that were used as evidence in the trial, before delivering her sentence.

Instead of life in prison, she sent him to jail for 33 years with parole eligibility after nine years.

Simpson’s co-accused, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, was given a lesser sentence of 27 years with parole after 7 1/2 years served.

Both defendants will appeal the court’s decision.