Everyone can remember exactly where they were that day Orenthal James Simpson led Los Angeles police on a low-speed chase in that infamous white Ford Bronco.
That day: June 17, 1994. (Fun fact: So many people were glued to the TV that Domino’s Pizza sold more pies than it did during the Super Bowl.)
And even more people remember the amazing verdict on October 3, 1995: O.J. was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. The glove didn’t fit, the jury had to acquit (but, c’mon, we all know he did it, right?).
Soon, another big O.J. Show will hit the airwaves. O.J., now 70, will have a parole hearing this coming Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT — and expert court watchers say if all goes well, Simpson will walk out of a Nevada prison on October 1.
And, of course, the whole circus will air live. Look for all the cable networks to do wall-to-wall coverage — even ESPN plans to air the hearing, reports The Wrap.
Understandably, the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners stated that there has been “overwhelming media and public interest” in Simpson’s possible parole.
ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap will anchor a special 90 minute “Outside the Lines” on Thursday about the events surrounding the hearing. Earlier this year, the network won its first Oscar for the highly-accalimed “30 for 30” event series, “O.J.: Made in America,” directed by Ezra Edelman.
The parole hearing will be live-streamed from the Lovelock Correction Center, where Simpson has been incarcerated since 2008.
The NFL Hall of Famer was sentenced to up to 33 years after a jury found him guilty of armed robbery and kidnapping charges. Witnesses testified that Simpson in 2007 broke into a room at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas and held people at gunpoint, angry over what he said was their attempt to sell memorabilia belonging to him.
Yale Galanter, his former lawyer, told the Daily News last week that he thinks O.J. will walk.
“It’s based on his behavior in prison and that certainly hasn’t changed,” he said. “He’s been a model inmate. He’s had no write-ups, no disciplinary issues. By all accounts, he’s totally abided by the rules.”
Galanter said nothing has changed since the last hearing — except Simpson has served four more years.
The state parole board bases its decisions on points an inmate has accumulated for behavior in prison.
“Here, if you’re a model prisoner, you behave yourself, you’re not a flight risk, you get paroled,” Galanter said.
So here comes another O.J. circus. So get your popcorn — or a pizza — and pull up a chair. It’ll be riveting.