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O.J. Simpson Arraigned
Aired September 19, 2007 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: And you know, what's especially troubling for the prosecution is, all right, O.J. Simpson is looking effectively at life in prison. Riccio, who seems perhaps as culpable, gets immunity.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
TOOBIN: Now, what's up with that?
COLLINS: I don't know. You tell me.
TOOBIN: I mean, that's going to be something -- well, I mean, that's going to be something the prosecution is going to have to explain to the jury, as to why they should be outraged enough to convict Simpson of these very serious crimes when they give this guy Riccio a complete walk.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely.
Well, let's talk about the defense now for a minute. Simpson's attorney has actually said he feels like he can put together a very strong defense.
What's he going to put together?
TOOBIN: Well, I think the -- you have to look at this case in two ways. If this was O.J. Smith on trial, I think this is a very defensible case, because the circumstances seem chaotic, the good guys and bad guys seem very hard to tell apart.
Yes, the gun is significant, but as far as I'm aware, there's no one who can place any knowledge of a gun with Simpson himself. So, if this were O.J. Smith, I think this case would be very defensible.
However, it may be that O.J. Simpson is so widely despised at this point -- and you know, we have a CNN poll that says 80 percent of the people polled think he killed his ex-wife and Ron Goldman 13 years ago. So, you know, it may than a jury simply doesn't care about the evidence in this case, they just hate O.J. So it's very hard to evaluate at this early stage how strong a case it is.
COLLINS: Yes. But it is an interesting question, is it not, about the public perception in all of this? As we talk to many different people here and different legal analysts, not a lot of people who apparently -- and again, as I said yesterday, I don't have a poll in front of me with stats on it, but not a lot of people who are saying, you know, it would be terrible if O.J. Simpson ended up going to jail.
TOOBIN: Not -- I never heard -- I haven't heard anyone say that. I mean, even among the people who were sympathetic to him during the trial, you know, nothing in his life subsequently has restored any luster.
I mean, he has not done anything, he's not done any sort of public service. He has not looked for the killer, as he promise he would. You know, he has not increased or enhanced his reputation in any way.
And public opinion, as this CNN poll illustrates, has gotten very solidly against him. I mean, it was already very solidly against him, but 80 percent, it's hard to find 80 percent of the American people agreeing on much of anything. So, I mean, that just shows how despised he is.
But in my experience, jurors do take seriously a judge's instruction to focus only on the evidence in the case. And certainly if this case goes to trial, a judge will say, look, this is not about what happened on Bundy Drive in Brentwood 13 years ago. This is about this scene in this hotel room, and it may be that the jury says just not enough evidence.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, of course, we're a long way from all of that, aren't we?
TOOBIN: Yes.
COLLINS: We're going to have to watch all of this today with you look, again looking at those live pictures coming out of that Las Vegas courtroom, getting ready for all of this to begin.
We're going to have live coverage of the O.J. Simpson hearing. It's just minutes away right here on CNN.
If you can't watch it here, though, you have to get to your desk or something if you can, because you can watch the courtroom drama on your computer. Just log on to CNN.com and watch it streamed live. You can also read the full criminal complaint against Simpson. That, too, is on our Web site.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, Jeffrey, I'm sitting here listening to you, Jeffrey, and wondering, how does -- there is no chance that this case with O.J. Simpson could polarize folks. There's no way that this can be become about race and black and white. And then I heard you say that this guy Riccio is on "LARRY KING LIVE" -- it's a bite that we've been playing -- and I heard you suggest this guy could be as culpable as Simpson.
So why the heck do you cut a deal with this guy to go after Simpson? And then, ding, ding, ding, here we go, now we have the moment where there is the fodder out there for folks who want to pick sides to now pick sides.
TOOBIN: I mean, Tony, you are so right. Although, let me quibble with one phrase you used.
HARRIS: Great. Great.
TOOBIN: You said cut a deal. They didn't cut a deal with Riccio.
HARRIS: Yes, you're right.
TOOBIN: They didn't say, well, plead guilty to a misdemeanor and we'll -- and, you know -- they gave him immunity. That's no deal. That's a total gift.
HARRIS: That's a pass.
TOOBIN: And you know, again, the prosecution has not come out yet and said what their version of the facts are. And they have not said how they explain this tape, which, in many respects, is incriminating.
But the chaos of this situation, I mean, it really sounds like maybe I'm dating myself here, this famous scene in the Marx Brothers movie, "A Night at the Opera," where there are like 10 or 11 people in this small hotel room.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: I mean, you know, that is not a circumstance that lends itself to a clear explanation of what happened. So you know...
HARRIS: Do you agree with my premise though that we now have a situation where folks who are just -- who will look -- who may not have been looking for a way to defend O.J. Simpson can now say, well, wait a minute here? And...
TOOBIN: They could say the authorities are out to get O.J. because he's famous, because he's a celebrity, or because he's black. I mean, you just -- the raw material for that argument is there -- is now there.
HARRIS: I so don't want to go down this road again.
I'm curious, there's something else that I recall from the earlier trial with O.J. that seems to be at least a possibility to be an issue in this case, the chain of custody here. Are we talking about a case where O.J. Simpson has turned over memorabilia to this Riccio guy or whomever to give to the dealer in the room and now he's going -- and has decided he doesn't want to go through with whatever arrangement here and is trying to get it back, or is this material that this dealer, this collector, already had in his possession that O.J. learned of and now he wants to back?
I'm trying to figure out chain of custody here.
TOOBIN: Tony -- Tony...
HARRIS: Yes? TOOBIN: ... the business -- the nature of the business transactions among memorabilia dealers, this is not exactly when General Electric sells a power turbine to, you know, the power authority somewhere.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: I mean, this is totally casual, seat of the pants, cash changing hands. I mean, determining who really owns this stuff is very difficult.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: And now, in -- now, in fairness to the government here, they will probably say it doesn't matter who owns this stuff, ultimately, because even if it turns out O.J. had the right to some of this material, he had no right to go into this hotel room with somebody wielding a gun saying, give it to me. You know, we have -- we have procedures in this country where, if somebody has your property, you get it back, you call the police, you file a lawsuit. The law does not allow you to, you know, conduct a private sting operation.
HARRIS: And it's recorded and Riccio is saying, look, we had it worked out, we had a plan. OK, the plan went awry, but we had essential a script, here are the actors, here are your roles, here are your assignments once we're in the room, but it went a little haywire. This is...
TOOBIN: It went a little haywire. And, I mean, you know, to add to complications here, the -- one of the two alleged victims in that hotel room has apparently had a very serious heart attack...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... and may never be in a position to testify about what happened there. So, crazy stuff happens with trials.
One issue that I think, you know, would be interesting to ask the Las Vegas authorities when they start answering questions here is, what was the rush? This incident took place last Thursday. O.J. was arrested on Sunday. Why not spend a few weeks...
HARRIS: Yes, working out the case.
TOOBIN: ... do all your interviews, get everybody's ducks in a row, find out what people's testimony is, and then decide whether you have a case. O.J. Simpson, I think it's safe to say, is not going to disappear into the Mexican wilderness.
HARRIS: Right.
TOOBIN: You know, he's going to go home to Florida. He can't go more than a day or two without playing golf. He'll be able to be found. Why not take your time and sort it out rather than tie yourself down with this -- you know, with these very extensive charges when the proof may be problematic, at best?
HARRIS: Boy, we're seeing so many of the players back in this courtroom again.
Jeffrey, if you would, stand by and help us sort through this when the hearing actually gets under way.
Thanks, Jeff.
TOOBIN: OK.
COLLINS: CNN's Chris Lawrence is standing by, in fact, outside that courtroom in Las Vegas, giving us an idea of exactly what's happening.
Chris, we expected this to begin around 11:00. No, you know, secure time on that, obviously, as we see the courtroom begin to fill up there.
Tell us what you're seeing around you. We also have a picture of O.J. Simpson's daughter Arnelle there up in the screen above you. Anyone else that you have seen come in through that courtroom?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, earlier, you know, we talked about the fact that there was, you know, no Kato Kaelin, no Judge Ito, none of those characters from the first trial. But Marcia Clark, the woman who prosecuted O.J. Simpson in his original criminal trial, she is here. There are a number of people behind me waiting to get into court, lining up to go into the courtroom, going through security and like that.
What we believe is going to happen within the next few minutes, a guard will take O.J. Simpson through an underground tunnel and bring him from the jail into the courtroom. Once he gets inside, we expect that he will be wearing his prison jumpsuit and that he will be -- will be wearing cuffs on his hands and on his legs.
And inside that court is where his lawyer will ask the judge to allow Simpson to post bond. And we do expect that the judge will make a decision one way or the other, although it is possible that the judge could ask for more time to consider that request -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. We are also getting another shot here of what we understand to be the blonde woman in the picture just above me there, O.J. Simpson's girlfriend right now.
Chris, when you say they're bringing them in through this underground tunnel, is that usually the case?
LAWRENCE: It is. The guards here, the police say this is standard procedure. The tunnel is designed so that they don't have to take someone outside on a sidewalk, that it is an enclosed, secure method of transporting prisoners back and forth from the jail to the prison.
Once this hearing is concluded, if the judge does make a decision regarding the posting of bail, then O.J. Simpson could either be returning right back to the detention center or he could be set free. And we could know all of that within the next hour or so.
COLLINS: All right. Very good.
CNN's Chris Lawrence outside that courtroom there in Las Vegas. You see the inside of it on the other screen there.
Thanks so much, Chris.
HARRIS: All right. Let's bring back in our chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.
Jeffrey, so O.J. Simpson will be in that courtroom at some point presumably in a jumpsuit, a prison jumpsuit. Hmm, how prejudicial that is imagery? You know, as I do as we sit here, that it's going to be splashed everywhere.
TOOBIN: It is. But you know, he -- one of the things that the government always tries to do is treat all defendants the same way. And if it's customary for prisoners to appear in jumpsuits, then he gets to appear -- he should appear in a jumpsuit.
However, in the craziness of this case, keep in mind that the suit he wore on the day he was acquitted...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... is one of the pieces of memorabilia at issue in this case.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: The question -- you know, because that was something that was actually very important to the defense lawyers in Simpson's -- in Simpson's criminal trial...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... that he appear in court, and he wore these beautiful suits every day and they were perfectly cut. And of course, as we all know...
HARRIS: You remember the tailor. You probably -- the Bruno -- you probably remember the shoes and everything else.
TOOBIN: The shoes -- the shoes were the critical piece of evidence in the civil trial.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: But the -- you know, the fact that O.J. Simpson looked like the handsome, prosperous, charismatic person that he was, not just another criminal defendant, was very important. I think that matters more when you have a jury rather than a pretrial proceeding like this one. HARRIS: You think this will go to trial?
TOOBIN: Boy, you know, I need to know a lot more at this point. I don't know.
I mean, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to predict at this point. I mean, this has all moved so fast. And problems have emerged very quickly.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: I think it's -- you can't -- you can't predict how it's going to go at this point.
HARRIS: Well, how does it -- how does it go away?
TOOBIN: Well, the prosecutor could send it to a grand jury and the grand jury could decide under the prosecutor's guidance not to issue an indictment. I mean, when prosecutors want to bury cases, they can.
You know, the problem, again -- this is why I found it so peculiar that they moved to an arrest so quickly -- it's a lot more embarrassing to do that after you have already arrested somebody rather than after a thorough investigation you say, look, we decided not to bring charges. But you know, it may be that the Clark County district attorney has looked at this case thoroughly enough and said, look, this is a dangerous guy, we want him off the street, that's why we arrested him on Sunday.
HARRIS: You wouldn't expect a decision on whether it moves forward today?
TOOBIN: No.
HARRIS: In this hearing that...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: No, I don't think so. I think today's about -- today's about bail.
HARRIS: OK.
TOOBIN: Pretty much exclusively.
HARRIS: Jeffrey, don't go anywhere. This is going to happen soon. I promise you.
TOOBIN: We're waiting.
HARRIS: All right.
Live coverage of the O.J. Simpson hearing minutes away right here on CNN. Hey, look, but if you can't watch it here, you've got other business to attend to, you have to get back to your desk, back to work or something of that sort, you can see the courtroom drama on your computer. Don't let the bosses know.
Just log on to CNN.com and watch it streamed live. You can also read the full criminal complaint if you'd like to against Simpson. That, too, is on our Web site.
COLLINS: As we await the start of the hearing, let's go ahead and take a closer look now at the case against O.J. Simpson. We will not leave these pictures for you here. But here now is the story from CNN's Ted Rowlands with a look of how it all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight o'clock last Thursday night, an armed robbery is reported at the low-budget Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Six men, two with guns drawn, had allegedly stolen tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. One of the suspects was O.J. Simpson.
CAPTAIN JAMES DILLON, LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: He is cooperating with the investigation. And he is meeting with Las Vegas Metro robbery detectives at this time.
BRUCE FROMONG, SPORTS MEMORABILIA COLLECTOR: The door burst open. Guys came rushing in, one after another. The second one had a gun drawn.
ROWLANDS: Memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley are the alleged victims. Fromong says they were expecting to meet an interested buyer of O.J. Simpson merchandise. Instead, Simpson himself and his -- quote -- "thugs" showed up.
FROMONG: O.J. was going: "This is mine. This is -- Yes, all that stuff is mine. Get it."
ROWLANDS: Some of Simpson's alleged yelling from that night has surfaced in this audio recording released by TMZ, the celebrity news Web site.
TMZ says it was recorded by one of the men who went into the room with Simpson.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
O.J. SIMPSON, DEFENDANT: Don't let nobody out this room. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
Think you can steal my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and sell it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SIMPSON: Don't let nobody out of here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
Mother (EXPLETIVE DELETED) you think you can steal my (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: By Friday, police were labeling Simpson as a possible suspect, but he was telling CNN there was more to the story.
Simpson told CNN that he and this man, Thomas Riccio, had set up a fake meeting, in an effort to get back what Simpson says were stolen personal items, including old photographs of his family -- quote -- "I just wanted to get my stuff back," he said. Riccio says he saw a gun pulled during the incident, but Simpson told CNN he didn't see any gun.
THOMAS RICCIO, AUCTIONEER: O.J. didn't have any weapon. O.J. just wanted -- and I don't think O.J. even knew or approved of the -- I don't know.
ROWLANDS: By Saturday, while O.J. Simpson attended this wedding, police made their first arrest of one of the men Simpson was with, 46- year-old Walter Alexander, caught, police say, on his way to the airport.
On Sunday, from his room at the Palms Hotel, Simpson told CNN he wasn't concerned that he might be next, but, 90 minutes later, at 11:05 Sunday morning, O.J. Simpson was in custody, charged with six felony counts, including robbery, burglary, conspiracy, and assault with a deadly weapon.
DILLON: He was taken into custody. He cooperated, and it was without incident.
ROWLANDS: Simpson is being held without bail, pending a hearing and arraignment now scheduled for Wednesday.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. Let's bring back in our chief legal -- senior legal analyst, chief, senior, the man, Jeffrey Toobin.
TOOBIN: Executive director, senior vice president, legal analyst.
HARRIS: Exactly. There you go. VP, like it, like it.
Jeffrey, this is so bizarre, and I'm going to ask you to talk -- who happens to have a piece of recording equipment on as the sting -- conveniently, as the sting, as the knock is happening at the door? What is going on here? And is there the potential as this stuff starts to unravel that the prosecutors get more interviews with these characters that -- come on. TOOBIN: Well, it is just so weird that he taped this thing. And again, it raises credibility issues to say the least, regarding Riccio, because he now -- we now know he sold this tape...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... to TMZ.com. And that suggests the possibility that he saw this entire endeavor as a money-making operation for himself. That, you know, he taped this confrontation thinking he could sell it.
Last night on "LARRY KING LIVE" Larry asked him, "Why did you tape it?" And he gave this sort of vague answer about, well, you know, I knew it was going to be really weird and so I just wanted to have a record of it. Well, I don't know what that means personally.
HARRIS: How about we planned it, we staged it, we recorded it to put it on a Web site or -- oh, to sell it to TMZ to make money off of it?
TOOBIN: Right.
HARRIS: Is that too simple an explanation?
TOOBIN: Well, I mean...
HARRIS: And yes, some crazy things happened, and yes, there was talk of a gun and maybe something was flashed -- could it possibly be that simple? Larry, we staged it, we recorded it because we want to make money off of it?
TOOBIN: Right. But -- well, staged, this is where you have to be careful, where the government will say, look, we concede that Riccio is not, you know, someone you'd want your daughter to marry.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: And we know that this is not a great guy. OK. But Riccio's not on trial here, Simpson's on trial here.
So, if Riccio was trying to use this incident to make money, that's not to be admired, but that doesn't excuse O.J. Simpson for trying to engage in an armed robbery. That is a plausible government argument. It's not the greatest argument because...
HARRIS: And what if Simpson says, look, well, this is clear evidence that I was set up here? This guy recorded the whole episode. This is evidence -- you cut a deal with this guy, you give this guy immunity? I'm telling you, this guy was part of a setup.
TOOBIN: Right. I mean, that's -- that's certainly an argument that Simpson might -- might use. I think, again, you have to be careful about the term "setup". Again, no one forced Simpson to go up to that hotel room.
HARRIS: Absolutely. TOOBIN: No one forced him to yell at the two guys in the room, put the stuff in the bag, you stole it from me. I mean, so, you know, even if other people had mixed or even bad motives, which I don't think there's any doubt they probably did, that doesn't excuse his own bad conduct if in fact he engaged in bad conduct.
But again, you know, this is a classic thing that goes on in trials, is that defense lawyers try to put the focus on the terrible government witnesses and the sleazy people, and the prosecution responds, hey, they're not our friends, they're your friends, Mr. Defendant.
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: If you think Riccio's so terrible, why were you in business with him? I mean, so that's how these arguments tend to go.
HARRIS: Let me give you an opportunity to offer me a real hard admonition here. Tell me why you're cautioning me against terminology like "setup". Because I clearly understand where you're going, but just explain it.
TOOBIN: Well, you know, "setup" suggests that some other person, Riccio, the memorabilia dealer, or somebody else, sort of put Simpson in a position where it looked like he committed a crime but was not, in fact, committing a crime. That's I think what "setup" means.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
TOOBIN: Now, even if Riccio planned out part of this confrontation...
HARRIS: The sting? This alleged sting?
TOOBIN: ... to make money...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... that done excuse Simpson from trying to take stuff in a way that the law doesn't allow him to take it. So that's what I mean by "setup" doesn't really answer the whole question.
HARRIS: Got you.
TOOBIN: I mean, yes, Riccio might have had lousy motives, but that doesn't mean Simpson is automatically innocent of what he's been charged with so far.
HARRIS: Got you.
So let's take a big step back. And for folks who are just joining us, 11:21 Eastern Time, Jeffrey, if you would, give us -- walk us through what we are likely to see here. You know this proceeding as well as anyone. What are we likely to see? And what are the two key issues here?
I know that the bond hearing is part of this. And then an outlining of some of the charges.
TOOBIN: Well, the main issue that the court will be dealing with is bond. And the two issues that always come up in a bond hearing are risk of flight, is the defendant likely to flee and not show up for the trial, and danger to the community -- is this person a danger if we let him out?
I think the prosecution will have a tough time arguing danger to the community, so I think risk of flight will be the main issue that -- before the judge. And the prosecution presumably will say, look, this is a guy who lives in Miami, doesn't live anywhere near Nevada. He could go to Miami, have no reason to return, we need to keep him here to guarantee that he will show up for trial.
The defense will answer, he's O.J. Simpson, he can't disappear. He's one of the most famous people in America. We will put up a bond of some kind, financial bond to guarantee his appearance.
And -- and this is where things could get quite interesting...
HARRIS: Yes.
TOOBIN: ... the defense will say, this case is so weak, he'd be happy to come back because he's not worried about going to jail here. And that's where both sides might get into some discussion of the merits of the case.
HARRIS: Talking about the merits of the case, will we get more information than we have so far in the charging documents as to the claims being made here by the prosecution?
TOOBIN: We might. We probably won't get any written material...
HARRIS: Right.
TOOBIN: ... but when the -- one of the things the prosecutor often does in a circumstance like that -- like this is say, well, we've just put the bare bones of our allegations in the charging document, the complaint. In fact, we have the following evidence: we have eyewitness one, we have eyewitness two, we have eyewitness three.
So that's what might happen here if the judge wants to hear more about the strength of the government's case. I mean, the government has not really said at all what its evidence is. It's merely outlined the charges. And there's nothing wrong with the government not doing that. This is the stage in the proceedings where they're not required to do that.
HARRIS: And why -- you were talking to Heidi a little earlier and were talking about an arraignment on 11 counts connected to this alleged armed robbery. You're telling us to not pay a whole lot of attention -- all right. Let's go to the courtroom. And I'll save that question for you a little later, Jeffrey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Simpson is present in custody.
This is the state of Nevada versus Orenthal James Simpson.
First of all, there's multiple cases on calendar today. The case 07F19420X was assigned to Department 8. This case number was generated at the Clark County Detention Center when Mr. Simpson was arrested and booked on Sunday, September 16th of this year.
Prior to that, on February -- excuse me, on Friday, September 14th, the district attorney generated a case number for Mr. Simpson in anticipation of filing a criminal complaint and requesting an arrest warrant. That case number was 07F19284X, assigned to Department 9.
That process was never completed before Mr. Simpson was arrested September 16th. Apparently, the detention center was unaware the district attorney had already generated a case number for Mr. Simpson. Therefore, he was booked under a new case number which is 07F19420X, case assigned to Department 8.
Las Vegas Justice Court and the district attorney have a longstanding protocol to consolidate multiple cases involving the same defendant to the lowest case number when appropriate. This maintains the integrity of the judicial process and avoids judge shopping by either party. So in light of this, pursuant to longstanding protocols and procedures, this case will proceed under the lowest case number, and, in fact, that is what the district attorney has filed a complaint under.
That case number is 07F19284X, assigned to Las Vegas Justice Court Department 9.
Counsel have any questions about that procedure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.
And as to the state of Nevada versus Orenthal James Simpson, case number 07F19284A, Mr. Simpson is present in custody.
Counsel for the state?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will address Mr. Simpson first.
Mr. Simpson -- why don't you stand up, please, Mr. Simpson.
Mr. Simpson, I have a criminal complaint before me. Have you received a copy of the criminal complaint?
SIMPSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This charges you with the crimes of conspiracy to commit a crime, a gross misdemeanor offense; conspiracy to commit kidnapping, a felony offense; conspiracy to commit robbery, a felony offense; burglary while in possession of deadly weapon, a felony offense; two counts of first-degree kidnapping, with use of a deadly weapon, both felony offenses; two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, both felony offenses; two counts of assault with use of a deadly weapon, both felony offenses; and coercion with use of a deadly weapon, a felony offense.
Mr. Simpson, do you understand the charges against you?
SIMPSON: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, do we have counsel present on Mr. Simpson's behalf.
YALE GALANTER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, Your Honor, Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grosso (ph) on behalf of O.J. Simpson, and only Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grosso only on behalf of O.J. Simpson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Galanter, are you licensed to practice here in Nevada.
GALANTER: I am not fully licensed. I have filed the paperwork. I've been told by the Nevada bar that it takes five days to get it processed. But I can tell you as an officer of the court, the paperwork has been filed (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are certain Supreme Court rules that need be to followed. That's in the process? And where are you from?
GALANTER: I'm from Florida, Your Honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, let me hear from Mr. Rogers (ph).
Any objection to Mr. Galanter making representations today based on the understanding that the proper paperwork is in?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he has Gabe Grasso (ph) with him, who is licensed in Nevada.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Grasso (ph), is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct, Your Honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll serve as local counsel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will be local counsel, Judge. And only me will be local counsel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, also as to this procedural issue, the defendant in this case is remanded to the custody of the sheriff in this case. Mr. Simpson currently is being held without bail.
Are we planning to address bail today?
GALANTER: Yes, Your Honor. And I'll let Mr. Rogers (ph) make the announcement for the court. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge, right now the defendant is being held without bail. Another court made that decision. As you are aware, the (INAUDIBLE) Constitution provides that all people charged with crimes with the exception of murder in the first degree are entitled to reasonable bail.
With that in mind, the defense and I have entered into a stipulation. We ask the court to accept the stipulation, and it is as follows: Mr. Simpson will post $125,000 bail cash surety. The conditions of his bail are that he will surrender his passport to his attorney within 24 hours, that he will have no contact with the witnesses, victims or co-defendants in this case, either personally or through his agents.
Of course his defense team, attorneys, investigators are obviously entitled to contact these witnesses if they feel it's appropriate. And that he will obviously not be able to travel outside of the country because he will be surrendering his passport. But he will be able to travel between here and Florida or whatever is appropriate, whatever him and his attorneys decide. That's the extent of the stipulation, judge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge, also, just to clarify, my understanding is that he can travel freely within the continental United States?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is your understanding?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a correct statement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the agreement that Mr. Rogers and I reached a few days ago, and it is stated accurately. And we'd like to thank the district attorney for his courteous and professionalism in handling this matter, judge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'll note that another judge that initially reviewed this case had ordered the defendant held without bail. I'll note that obviously the charges here are different than what Mr. Simpson was originally arrested on. The standard bail for a first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon is a no-bail hold, a set-in-court amount. I'm willing to follow the agreement of the parties, the stipulation entered into, by the District Attorney David Roger and counsel for Mr. Simpson.
Accordingly, bail was set on this case at $125,000, total bail cash surety.
As a condition, Mr. Simpson, there are certain conditions to posting bond here. You're ordered to surrender your passport to your attorney, Mr. Galanter. Additionally, you're ordered to have no contact whatsoever with any co-defendants named in this case, any potential witnesses named in this case, these witnesses include any named victims in this case or any other potential witnesses. Do you understand that order? O.J. SIMPSON: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Mr. Simpson, by no contact I mean no direct contact, no indirect contact, whatsoever. If you see them, avoid contact. If you see them walking down the street, you're across the street, you're to have no indirect contact, you do not use any means to contact these individuals. Don't use e-mail, telephone, mail, passenger, pigeon, no whatsoever contact.
Now, you're to have, obviously, you can travel -- where do you live, Mr. Simpson?
SIMPSON: I live in Miami, Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're allowed travel in the continental United States. Obviously you'll have to travel back to Las Vegas for court.
You understand the no contact order includes having third parties contacting any of these individuals on your behalf. Do you understand that?
SIMPSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously a violation of any of these orders would be a violation of the -- your release in this case. I will be made aware by the district attorney of any violations, and we can proceed with you in custody in this case if you violate this order. Do you understand everything?
SIMPSON: I do, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bail will be set. How would you like to proceed? Would you like to set this for a preliminary hearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would ask that you set this for a status check, perhaps the third week in October. There are other defendants who've received return dates of sometime in October, and we'd like have everybody in court at the same time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look likes we have the B defendant on a return date on October 16th, the C defendant on for a return date on October 17th. I would suggest we pass this for a status check on the setting of the hearing and continued arraignment on all defendants the week after.
That acceptable?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is, judge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's set this for status check the week of the 22nd.
Yes? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: October 22, 7:30.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything else, counsel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, thank you, your honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That concludes the hearing. '
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will be in your regular courtroom, or do we know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That will have to be in a courtroom to be determined at another time. There's obviously some logistic issues involved in the case that I'll have to discuss with court staff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, judge.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Remain seated. Court's adjourned.
COLLINS: OK, so we waited quite a while for that. It was 11:25 when it all began. So I guess it's been about 10 minutes or so that we've listening to these proceedings in Las Vegas for O.J. Simpson. The main point was for his attorneys to see if they could get bail for O.J. Simpson. That was granted -- you see on the bottom of your screen there -- for $125,000, a cash surety for that, meaning he's going to have quite a few conditions put on this bail.
Jeffrey Toobin is standing by to talk more about this. So, Jeff, it's not just the money, he's also got surrender his passport. He's also got to agree to not have any contact whatsoever with any potential witnesses or co-defendants in this case.
TOOBIN: This is pretty standard.
COLLINS: Yes.
TOOBIN: And the fact that the defense and prosecution worked out an agreement on bond is fairly standard. That is something that often prosecutors and defense lawyers do before an additional appearance like this one.
And $125,000 does seem pretty reasonable. It is a substantial amount of money, but it is money that Simpson is capable of raising. So it doesn't prevent him from getting out. And now he can be out on bail, which the Nevada constitution, reasonable bail, as the defense -- as the prosecutor said, is part of the law there, and he got it.
COLLINS: So not much of a surprise here?
TOOBIN: No, not a surprise. And it does seem like the prosecution is keeping its options open about whether it wants to go to a preliminary hearing or a grand jury to decide how this case will proceed. But we are a long way from any trial in this case.
COLLINS: What is possibly the next step, or at least the next proceeding in all of this? TOOBIN: Well, there will be a status conference in -- I have to say I missed exactly when it would be, some time in mid to late October, where I think the government will announce what route it wanted to take this case to go.
I think one thing to keep an eye on is whether the co-defendants work out any sort of plea bargain, because there's no doubt here who the main target is.
Just as we saw in the Michael Vick case a few weeks ago, there were four defendants initially, then one, two, three, they all took pleas, the minor defendants took pleas, basically forcing Vick's hand. That's going to be something to watch here, whether Simpson's co- defendants cut deals and agree to testify against him.
COLLINS: But how much of a surprise is that, too? I mean, that is what we would have expected to happen.
TOOBIN: Well it hasn't happened yet, that these co-defendants have cut deals and agreed to testify. But certainly that's a possibility to look at down the line.
COLLINS: Absolutely. All right, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Looks like making a really big dinner, preparing for it all day, and then you eat it in like 30 seconds. Pretty short, but not surprising indeed.
Thanks so much, Jeff.
HARRIS: Want to bring in our CNN contributor Roland Martin.
Roland, two appearances on the big show today. Glad you're in Atlanta.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You guys got me earning this paycheck. It's all good.
HARRIS: You know, I'm watching this hearing and I'm saying to myself, does he really matter? Does he have in any way -- why do we care? Does he really matter? Does he have the same ability to polarize that he had over those 12 years or so ago?
MARTIN: Well, obviously the cases are different. You're talking about double murder, in this case trying to get memorabilia back.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARTIN: And in looking at the charges. But, O.J. Simpson has a special place in the hearts and minds of America. Because every element came in to play with this case. Murder, race, celebrity, entitlement, I mean, take your pick. Everything was in this case. There are some Shakespearian aspects to it.
HARRIS: You're right.
MARTIN: Not only that, do you realize how many people got jobs because of O.J. Simpson?
HARRIS: Absolutely. It was a growth industry.
MARTIN: You look at the number of the books published as well. There's this fascination, this is a living, breathing train wreck. And so whatever he does, remember the whole deal, road rage, that was an issue.
HARRIS: Yes.
MARTIN: DEA goes to his house, and DirecTV gets him on a fine for stealing satellite. I mean, whatever he does, the whole steak house in Kentucky, I mean, this guy, people are so angry with what took place, that a lot of folks cannot let go. You mentioned -- you bring up O.J. Simpson's name and folks just go crazy.
HARRIS: I didn't think that there was a possibility in this case to polarize the races the way we saw those years ago, until we were talking about this Riccio character, was on "LARRY KING" last night, and this is the guy that's been given immunity from prosecution. Jeffrey Toobin tells us this morning, this guy could be as culpable as anything that O.J. is being accused of, and he's being given immunity. And I'm like, oh my goodness. There is sort of the wedge moment.
MARTIN: I think it's..
HARRIS: Potentially.
MARTIN: I think potentially that's one of the wedge moments. But I think the reality is, folks have a strong belief, get O.J. Simpson in jail at any cost. And so, if it's a matter of giving the guy immunity, get him in jail. It is just absolutely amazing.
And I'm telling you, somebody watching now and saying, no the problem is you guys in the media. There's a piece on CNN.com yesterday where I said America's in love with O.J. Simpson. We can't get enough of him. I got all of these e-mails, no, no, no, it's you, you, you, the media. I said, wait a minute, who bought all of those book "If I Did It?" Who bought them on amazon.com. Who bought them on Barnes & Noble? All of those who've written books. Television ratings spike. All these things go up, the magazines.
Trust me, he's going to be "US Weekly," "People." He's going to be "In Touch."
HARRIS: Don't tell us we're going to go through that again.
MARTIN: It's not going to be of the same level intensity, but it will still be close. What did the media judge say yesterday? She walked in front of the cameras, and she said, "I have never seen a spectacle like this." That was her first comment. That's what O.J. Simpson does. He provokes a special kind of anger among people that people cannot let go of. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, have a same feeling about O.J. O.J. Simpson will be generational hatred. That's what's amazing about this guy. HARRIS: Anything in this morning? So much of it sort of went by the books. Any observations? Anything for you in these moments this morning seeing him again in handcuffs, coming into another courtroom, another attorney at his side, certainly not the dream team, the so- called dream team.
And of course us being live, seeing the family, talking about it. Yes, it brings you back...
HARRIS: It takes you right back.
MARTIN: ... to some say those dark days.
HARRIS: He's aged some. But my goodness, you know.
MARTIN: Again, it's a perfect example of the living train wreck.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
MARTIN: I mean, it's as if O.J. has a death wish or has some kind of, you know, wish to -- you know what? Just go back, let me just go to jail somehow, you know.
And then you hear Jeffrey Toobin talked about last night on Anderson Cooper, who actually led it? There were guns. It was tape recorded. So you tape recorded before you went in? Then you -- again, it's one word that satisfies it, and of course our sister network TNT -- O.J. Simpson, he knows drama.
HARRIS: He knows drama. Roland, great to see you.
MARTIN: Glad to be here.
HARRIS: That was a great tag line.
Roland Martin with us.
COLLINS: I want to take a minute now to get to our Chris Lawrence, who is standing outside of the courtroom in Las Vegas. He is standing next to our Ted Rowlands who was actually inside those proceedings.
Hi, guys. Tell us what you know at this point.
LAWRENCE: Heidi, again, Ted just got out of the courtroom. And, Ted, I think the first question would be, O.J. Simpson heard all of the charges listed against him. Did you see any reaction as he heard them?
TED ROWLAND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all. In fact he was seemingly trying to keep any reaction under his lid. I mean, he didn't look around the courtroom.
Marcia Clark was in the front row, and a lot of people were thinking, oh my gosh, is O.J. going to see her? But when he came out, he basically trained his eyes on his lawyers, turned, and then focused on the judge. We didn't see a lot of, I would say, reportable emotion at all from Simpson.
LAWRENCE: And since the defense attorneys and the prosecutors came to a prior agreement about this bail that would be posted, is it reasonable to assume that they came up with a figure that O.J. Simpson has the able to pay?
ROWLAND: Clearly. There was a bail bondsman in the courtroom. He had clothing for Mr. Simpson, and I think before there was a little bit of a conference, we believe. They were trying to get O.J.'s attorneys, him into civilian clothes. The judge obviously did not allow that. He came out in the prison-issued clothing. But there's a bail bondsman all lined up. I suspect O.J. Simpson will be processed starting now, and however long that process takes will be it and he'll be out. And as you heard he can go anywhere in the country. One would assume he'll be leaving Vegas very shortly.
LAWRENCE: I know one of the stipulations for him to being able to post bond was that he would surrender his passport to his attorney. But the judge seemed adamant about some of the other stipulations to granting this bail.
ROWLAND: Yes. Don't talk to the witnesses. Don't try to get to the witnesses. And this is a key part of this because O.J. knows everybody involved, not only the co-conspirators, but also the alleged victims. And the judge made a point of really pressing that.
And the judge basically, the pressure was off of him. He just went along with the stipulations. He didn't have to come up with the bail. But you could really see that they are very concerned about the potential that O.J. gets to especially these victims, I would think.
LAWRENCE: And one point he even said, if you're walking down the street and you see them, you cross the street.
ROWLAND: Yes, which basically, emphasizes the fact this is a case of people that all knew each other, all had dealt with each other, and two of them are claiming to be victims of an armed robbery, and I think there's real concern about the case in terms of how the victims are going to come across. And the last thing they want is for those victims to be talking to O.J. Simpson or any of the other guys involved in this.
LAWRENCE: Following that up with one last question, the fact that they all know each other, they're all part of the circle, the judge also said, do not attempt to contact these witnesses through a third party?
ROWLAND: Right. I mean, bottom line here is that the judge was emphatic, said, Mr. Simpson, you're going back to jail basically if I get wind of this. And I'm sure that O.J. Simpson understood what's at stake there, and I highly doubt he'll be trying to contact anybody.
LAWRENCE: And right now no indication as to when O.J. Simpson, in the next hour or few hours his could be leaving and how?
ROWLAND: Well, One of the big things is they have said we're not treating him differently than anybody else, so that process takes however long it takes. And I assure you, they're going to do it in the same pace.
But that said, he's got everything in line. Clearly, the family's ready here. His lawyers are ready. They've got the money, and I think he'll be out in a matter of hours.
LAWRENCE: All right, again, CNN's Ted Rowlands inside the courtroom at that went on.
And, Heidi, I can tell you, with the hundreds of media people here, however way O.J. leaves this courtroom, and however way he eventually gets to the airport, there's likely to be cameras following his every move.
COLLINS: And no question about that. All right. We are looking at a live shot in fact, Chris, of all of the cameras trained on possibly him, or whichever way he may go. He came into the courtroom through an underground tunnel. So not quite sure what that exit will be. But you see the mass media there. Chris Lawrence for us outside the courtroom in Las Vegas, and Ted Rowlands as well, who was sitting inside those proceedings today.
HARRIS: And still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, a deadly blast in Beirut. A Christian neighborhood hit hard. Look at these pictures. The latest on the story that broke about an hour ago, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Breaking news out of Lebanon right now. A massive explosion ripped through a Christian suburb of Beirut, killing a Lebanese lawmaker and four others. It is believed the lawmaker was the target of explosion. The party is known to take an anti-Syrian stance. The blast set several vehicles on fire, thick smoke blanketing the scene.
HARRIS: And let's get a check of weather now. Jacqui Jeras is standing by in the severe weather center with an eye on maybe some drought-busting rain?
I'm sorry, Jacqui, before we get to you, we want to take you back out to Las Vegas and hear from O.J. Simpson's attorney.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
YALE GALANTER, O.J. SIMPSON ATTY.: ... could be released on a $125,000 corporate surety bond with conditions. One of the conditions is that he turn over his passport, which has already been done and it is in my custody. The other condition that he be able travel freely. And the third condition is that he have no contact with any witness or potential witness either directly or indirectly. Those are all very standard bond conditions.
Mr. Simpson, we expect Mr. Simpson to be processed and released ... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
GALANTER: ...fairly quickly. The district attorney, Mr. Rogers, and the staff at the correction center, has been nothing but professional and courteous to me and Mr. Grasso.
For the record, again, as I stated last night, the only two lawyers who are representing Mr. Simpson are myself and Mr. Grasso. And the reason you know that is because none of the other lawyers who have appeared, gone on television or given statements, knew anything about this stipulation. Fox News last night and the CBS morning show interviewed a lawyer based on bogus paperwork that was filed with the clerk's office, knowing that he was unauthorized, unretained and the family had not requested that he do that.
I will be taking professional action against those lawyers that tried to solicit my client. The reason I made the comment in court to the Judge Bonaventure, that Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso and only Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso represent O.J. Simpson is to clear that up. I mean, I felt like I was in a Joe Pesci movie, but that's where I got the comment.
Other than that, we do expect Mr. Simpson to go back to Florida in the next few days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!
GALANTER: He will not be doing any interviews. So I know my office has been inundated, I'm sure you're going to call Mr. Grasso's office here locally in Las Vegas. Do not call and request any interviews of Mr. Simpson. I know you probably will, but we're not doing any.
Well, you know, the standard release time here is anywhere between six and eight hours. The bond is being posted as we speak. Obviously, we've known about this for some time. So, all the arrangements had been pre-made. We have been assured by the people, and the very professional staff at the detention center that he will be expedited quickly. I mean, after all, they want him out as soon as possible also.
QUESTION: You've expressed some anger about how -- how this went. Were you able to represent your client fairly?
GALANTER: Oh, I think that Mr. Rogers and his staff were beyond courteous and beyond professional. I think the stipulation that we reached was very, very reasonable in terms of what Mr. Simpson is being charged with at this time.
QUESTION: When will he be arraigned?
GALANTER: He'll be arraigned sometime during the week of October 22nd.
QUESTION: For the record, is your client ...
GALANTER: Hold on, hold on, just one at a time. I'm sorry.
Listen, I'm not -- I don't -- I can discuss the charges generally, I don't want to discuss any of the evidence. My policy is not to try these cases in the media. As I said last night at the press conference, when Gabe and I left the detention center, my only focus up 'til this point in time has been securing Mr. Simpson's release from custody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice work, dude. Up high!
GALANTER: Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's right, come on, don't leave me hanging.
GALANTER: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I appreciate that, I really do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, buddy. Nice work.
GALANTER: You know, and that's been our focus. And you know, obviously, you guys want answers to questions that we don't have the answers to at this point in time. We are thoroughly going to investigate the case. We will thoroughly make sure that all of Mr. Simpson's rights are protected. We're going to examine all of the witness statements, both to the police and the various media outlets. But I can't comment on them because quite frankly, I haven't had the time to dissect them the way you guys have.
QUESTION: Will he immediately (ph) be going back to Florida ...
GALANTER: Hold on.
QUESTION: ...or is he going to stay here?
GALANTER: Well, I don't know what your definition of immediately is but my intention -- I can't comment on exactly when or what flight or any of that stuff. I am planning on bringing him back as soon as possible.
QUESTION: What will you plea when the time comes?
GALANTER: Not guilty.
QUESTION: Is your client innocent or not guilty?
GALANTER: I'm not sure there's a difference in the eyes of the law.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's both, he's innocent and not guilty.
GALANTER: Anyway ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
GALANTER: I think he's extremely relieved. Obviously, when you know we knew about this last night, we informed him. You know, he's relieved. I mean, this has been a very harrowing experience for him. He's been in custody for three days. Just wants to get home to be ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an emotional time, it's an emotional time.
GALANTER: He just wants to get home and be with his family and kids.
I think that the bail is extremely reasonable. You know, I mean, look at all these -- just turn around. I mean, there isn't a place on the planet that Mr. Simpson could go when somebody wouldn't recognize him or know who he was. I mean, you know ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Domestically.
GALANTER: Excuse me, excuse me -- the truth of the matter is, is that despite his past and public opinion about his past, he is not a flight risk and he is not a danger to the community. So that bond is more than reasonable. It's exactly where it should be.
Hold on, one at a time.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: I'm not going to comment on that, and your assumption that he can't put his property up is wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's his family doing, Yale?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: It's my decision and that's the way it's going to be.
Listen, you guys, look, you guys have jobs to do. You report from various sources. I am telling you that the only credible information that you can get about this case will be when we give press conferences and we notify the media.
What I have been hearing over the past three or four days has been incredible. And this attorney issue, and national news organizations putting attorneys on to discuss their representation of O.J. Simpson when everybody in this media pool knows that I have represented him for years, it's deplorable to me.
Now, just so you know, Gabe, I know Gabe from Ft. Lauderdale, he is a fine, fine Las Vegas lawyer. He's extremely well-respected. He's been in on this from the beginning. So to hear these other lawyers come out and say, they're representing O.J. Simpson, quite frankly, set me off like a rocket ship.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not cool.
GALANTER: When -- when -- and you know, you're talking about national news organizations and top cable networks are putting these people on without verifying the facts is just deplorable to me. QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: Well, I don't think -- I don't think that Mr. Simpson is as aware of it as I am because his access to, quite frankly, media reports has been restricted over the past few days. But it's not -- again, it wouldn't be his beef. It's my beef. And I'm going to tackle it. I really am, I'm very upset about this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a pregnant lady.
GALANTER: And just -- just so you all know the reason I'm so upset about it is, because you all knew who his lawyer was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy right here.
GALANTER: Again, you know, Gabe and I are not going to discuss any evidentiary issues at all. We need to examine the tape, we need to examine all of the witness statements. We need to examine the discovery. We're not going to go through it in front of cameras and microphones. We're just not going to ...
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: Hold on.
I think that the O.J. Simpson murder case invoked very, very strong feelings across America. And I think depending on who you talk to, everybody's got an opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Totally.
GALANTER: I am -- listen, I am -- those of you who know me from Florida and have covered my other cases know that I am a creature of the criminal justice system. I was a state attorney for many, many years, I practiced in both Dade and Broward County. I believe in the system. The system found him not guilty. From my point of view, that is the only thing that matters. In the eyes of the law, he was found not guilty.
Now in this -- excuse me, in this case, he starts out with the presumption of innocence and it is a brand new case. And I can tell you that, so far ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't talk right now.
GALANTER: ...so far, I am incredibly impressed at how professional and courteous everybody has been to us and that's the only thing I can say.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: OK, maybe you didn't hear me, OK. Mr. Rogers, in my opinion, has been nothing but courteous and professional to me since the first time I contacted him. I don't know how much clearer I can be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good answer.
GALANTER: Hold on, hold on.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
GALANTER: Listen, other than -- other than -- OK, listen. Other than my client being O.J. Simpson, my office, Gabe's office, handles these types of cases in a very routine manner. If you go into any courtroom in this building and look at the docket sheet, that's all you see. I mean, this is not -- other than it being Mr. Simpson, there is nothing unusual about this case.
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