Police rushed to judge O.J. in Simpson case, jury told
Witnesses lied and police rushed to judgement in their zeal to arrest O.J. Simpson on robbery and kidnapping charges, the American football legend's defense lawyers told jurors.
Attorney Yale Galanter urged jurors in closing arguments made Thursday to judge the credibility of prosecution witnesses and alleged victims in the case who had sought to make money from the case.
Simpson, 61, famously acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles in 1995, could be jailed for life if convicted on a dozen robbery and kidnapping charges.
He is accused of leading a gun-toting gang of men into a showdown with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel on September 13, 2007 to recover personal items allegedly stolen from his trophy room.
"This case has taken on a life of its own because Mr. Simpson is involved," Galanter said. "Police and the DA's (District Attorney's) Office are only interested in one thing -- Mr. Simpson.
"He has been the target of this investigation and nothing else mattered."
Closing arguments took place following three weeks of testimony in Simpson's trial. Four of the men allegedly involved in the raid struck deals to testify against Simpson while a fifth was the sports star's co-defendant.
Most of the witnesses testified about wanting to profit from the event by selling their stories to the media. One witness, Thomas Riccio, made a covert tape recording of the raid, which was sold to various news outlets.
However, District Attorney David Roger argued Simpson was the ringleader in forming a conspiracy to commit armed robbery and not a victim.
Simpson frequently shook his head in protest as Roger went through Simpson's planning process for the raid and how he talked about it afterward -- all caught on tape.
"You don't go in and get a gun and demand property from people," Roger argued. Under the law, property cannot be taken by threat or violence, regardless of who it belongs to, he said.
Galanter countered this by saying, "Being stupid and being frustrated is not being a criminal."
He closed by stressing that Simpson's artifacts were the foundation of his life because they included family photos dating back to the 1940s and prized footballs from record-setting performances.
"That's why this property raised such high emotion," he argued.
AFP
