Dear friends,

Well, the Juice of O.J. Simpson has finally run out.  In the late hours of Friday evening/Early Saturday morning, the jury hearing the armed robbery and kidnapping case returned a verdict of guilty on all 12 charges against the former NFL player and actor.  Under Nevada law, Simpson faces life in prison on the most serious charges against him, as well as his co-defendant, CJ Stewart.

This verdict comes 13 years to the day when Simpson was found not guilty by a Los Angeles jury of Murder 1 in the deaths of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.  Had there been a guilty verdict, OJ would have received the death penalty.  However, he was found liable in a civil trial for wrongful death and was ordered to pay (with interest included), approxmately $33 million.

OJ made a name for himself in avoiding having to pay that money, and, as a result, lost a lot of his personal possessions to try to satisify that debt.  That led to OJ and his friend trying to regain "personal belongings" that were supposedly stolen by force of arms.

OJ skated the last time he was on trial for a criminal act and was freed because the glove "doesn't fit".  Sadly, that was the turning point of the murder case.  The problem was that Simpson had to wear rubber/latex gloves to "protect the chain of evidence" that increased the friction to the point that it was very hard to put the gloves on.

That gave enough reasonable doubt to acquit (actually, it was, IMHO, a case of jury nullification) OJ and set him free after one of the longest trials in recent history.  Most other murder trials last a fraction of the time that the murder case did.  In fact, OJ's robbery trial was a little longer than average, but, not really notable because of that.

However, OJ played with fire again, and, this time, got burned.  I've felt that since his acquital 13 years ago, that he was on borrowed time and at some point, he'd make a mistake and end up in prison.  Now, it's happened and "The Jiuce", has run dry.  He only has himself to blame, because if he could have gone through the right order, he might have been allowed to get that stuff back legally.  Instead, OJ, is going to be in prison for the rest of his life.

Those that remember his Hertz commercials from 25-30 years ago will recall him running to catch a flight, only to trip up on the Hertz baggage.  He should have applied that to his real life and watched out for things that would trip him up.  A little late now, because, he's tripped on the luggage and fallen flat on his face.

The thing to remember here, and, it's a good thing to remember that pride does go before a fall.  OJ's pride in being able to flaunt the law has finally brough judgment on himself.  Don't let pride and ego get in the way of doing the right thing, friends, and, you'll prosper greatly.  It's far better than being OJ cellmate, right?

Until next time...Peace out!