Kim Goldman speaks on O.J. Simpson hearing
After nine years behind bars in the Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada, O.J. Simpson was unanimously approved for parole on Thursday.
His 33-year sentence was for robbery, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon. His acquittal in the 1995 murder trial of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman was given no consideration by the Nevada Parole Board in this matter.
“(The robbery) was a serious crime and there was no excuse for it,” board member Tony Corda said before approving Simpson’s parole. “You deserve to be sent to prison.”
For Santa Clarita resident Kim Goldman, sister of Ron Goldman, this means the resurgence of old feelings.
“With him being locked up in Lovelock, it’s been a chance for us to kind of reclaim some control over our life and some semblance of sanity,” Goldman said in an interview with ABC News before the hearing.
Though Goldman, the SCV Youth Project executive director, spoke out prior to the hearing, she was silent in the hours proceeding the decision, not taking to social media or doing interviews with news outlets.
Though the case he was incarcerated for was separate from the one she claims resulted in her brother’s death, she notes Simpson’s temperament as similar in both instances.
“His propensity is to be violent,” she said. “His propensity is to go above and beyond what the law dictates what he’s supposed to do.”
She garnered attention from people on social media, including mentions in tweets surrounding the parole hearing.
“Listening to O.J. speak about his life of non-violence is disgusting,” Twitter user Lisa Ramsay wrote. “My heart aches for @KimEGoldman.”
At his parole hearing, Simpson confirmed he had not completed his “commitment to change” class or gone to Alcoholics Anonymous as he previously said he would.
Instead, he took “victim empathy,” “alternative to violence” and computer classes and started a Baptist church service in the prison.
Beside infidelity issues, he claimed he’d lived a “conflict-free life.”
“I’m not a guy who lived a criminal life,” Simpson said. “I’m a pretty straight-shooter.”
Regarding the robbery, he said he would “have done anything not to have that happen.” He confirmed he had paid restitution and returned the property he stole.