Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

O.J. Simpson, who is famous as an athlete, commentator, actor and criminal defendant found himself in court again recently as a defendant in a robbery case. The judge in O.J. Simpson's armed robbery trial rejected a request from his attorneys to ask potential jurors if they consider the football great a murderer and asked potential jurors to put aside their feelings about his acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend.Simpson, 61, is accused of robbing two sports collectible dealers at gunpoint at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino last September. He and codefendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, each face a dozen charges -- including kidnapping, which carries a potential life sentence. Four other codefendants agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for their testimony. In the 90's, during a famous murder trial, Simpson was acquitted in the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman; a civil jury later found him liable for the deaths.

Prosecutors have taken a hard stance against Simpson, as he was held without bail during the investigation. The football Hall-of-Famer claims he was trying to regain items that were stolen from him, however those he allegedly attacked had recordings of the confrontation and state the Simpson was simply trying to rob them.

According to California Penal Code 213, a robbery is punishable as follows: (1) Robbery of the first degree is punishable as follows: (A) If the defendant, voluntarily acting in concert with two or more other persons, commits the robbery within an inhabited dwelling house, a vessel as defined in Section 21 of the Harbors and Navigation Code, which is inhabited and designed for habitation, an inhabited floating home as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 18075.55 of the Health and Safety Code, a trailer coach as defined in the Vehicle Code, which is inhabited, or the inhabited portion of any other building, by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or nine years. (B) In all cases other than that specified in subparagraph (A), by imprisonment in the state prison for three, four, or six years. (2) Robbery of the second degree is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or five years. (b) Attempted robbery in violation of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison.