Simpson: Is he truly humbled?
Florida and added, “I could easily stay in Nevada, but I don’t think you want me here.”
Undoubtedly, many Americans want Simpson in Nevada and behind bars, but he gave his supporters reason to believe he’s ready to be released. Simpson bluntly referred to himself as a “convict.”
“I haven’t made any excuses in the nine years I’ve been here, and I’m not making any now,” he said.
For whatever impact Simpson’s testimony had on the parole board Thursday, it’s clear his time in prison was more relevant.
He has not had a single write-up for disciplinary reasons.
He has been active at Lovelock Correctional Center, with regular duties disinfecting gym equipment, mopping floors, coaching athletic teams and, more recently, starting a Baptist service.
Simpson was fortunate in that, unlike his 2013 parole hearing, he did not appear alone. His oldest daughter, Arnelle Simpson, spoke poignantly on behalf of her father. She said he is not a perfect man but that he is always positive and she and her three siblings are eager to have him back.
“No one really knows what we’ve been through with this ordeal,” she said. “I know in my heart he’s humbled by this situation. I know that he is so remorseful.”
That was less clear through Simpson’s tone and remarks to the board, but there was another powerful speaker, Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer and one of the two victims in the 2007 crime.
He spoke forcefully in favor of parole. He said he had accepted Simpson’s apology several years ago and that if Simpson called him to say he was being released from prison tomorrow …
And with that Fromong turned his head toward Simpson in the hearing room and said, “Juice, I’ll be here tomorrow. I mean that, buddy.”
So Simpson is expected to need a ride when he is eligible for release Oct. 1. It’s uncertain who will pick him up and who believed him Thursday when at the hearing he spoke his final words before the board voted. “I’m sorry,” he said. Moments later he bowed his head when the board announced it was granting him parole.
As he left the room and headed back inside the prison, with only about 10 weeks left there now, a steel door closed behind him and Simpson clenched his hands and exclaimed: “Oh! God! Oh!”
The feelings will be mixed when Simpson makes his next move, likely back to Florida to his two youngest children, Sydney and Justin.
“I’d just like to get back to my family and friends,” he told the parole board members. “Believe it or not, I do have some real friends.”
He’s also motivated to move back to Florida so he can better protect his assets thanks to the homestead law.
He has captivated and polarized America again and is expected to head back to the golf course with his close friend Tom Scotto, who recently relayed an anecdote to USA TODAY Sports.
“We played every day in Miami, even if it was 100 degrees,” Scotto said of Simpson before he was incarcerated. “I’ll tell you something really funny. You know you wear a (golf) glove on the course. And all of his friends, anytime he drops the glove, they say, ‘Oops, you did it again.’ ” Did he do it? Did he deserve parole? The jury is still out.
“I know in my heart he’s humbled by this situation.” Arnelle Simpson, on her father O.J. Simpson