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Nevada Supreme Court to Hear OJ Bond Arguments

By Caleb Groos on July 20, 2009 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The Nevada Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on August 3 about whether O.J. Simpson should be released on bond while he appeals his conviction on charges including armed robbery and kidnapping. The move is highly unusual for Nevada's high court, which has not held oral arguments on a bond appeal request in the last eight years.

In December, Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison without the possibility of parole for 9 years. Simpson viewed the incident as he and a few associates reclaiming some stolen property from some shady memorabilia dealers. The jury saw it more like first degree kidnapping, robbery, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.

According to the AP, Nevada's top court may prove hesitant to let Simpson free on bond pending his appeal. The last it granted a high profile defendant bond pending appeal, things did not go well. Lawrence Arvey (aka "Candy Man," "Mr. Chin," and "Big Fat Daddy"), sentenced to serve life for sex crimes against minors, got bail pending his appeal and opted to skip town in 1978. He is still at large.

William Terry, a Las Vegas defense attorney who helped represent Arvey told the AP that to get him out on bond, Simpson's lawyers will have to show that there is a potential that the case will be overturned on appeal.

Simpson's defense has reportedly filed an affidavit from one of the two memorabilia dealers Simpson allegedly robbed. It states that he wishes all charges against Simpson to be dropped and that he has not been threatened or offered anything from Simpson in order to change his mind.

All seem to agree that Simpson's chances of winning release pending his appeal are slim.

No doubt the 30 minutes of oral arguments on August 3 will receive far more than 30 minutes worth of media coverage.

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