by Mark Silva
We couldn’t help but notice here in the Swamp, in this age of blogs, email, text-messages, wi-fi canopies and broadband aircards, Facebook and YouTube, that the judge who released O.J. Simpson on $125,000 bail today specifically forbade him against communicating with any of the defendants or witnesses in the case by “carrier pigeon.''
In Las Vegas this morning, accompanied by his lawyer from Florida, the one-time NFL star long ago acquitted on murder charges and now accused of leading an armed assault on a hotel room to recover valuable sports memorabilia from his football career, agreed to surrender his passport and accept the other terms that prosecutors had set for his release on bail while the case proceeds.
The pony-tailed Las Vegas judge made sure that Simpson, standing before him in the customary dark blue uniform of the Las Vegas lockups, understood that this meant no communication whatsoever with any defendants or witnesses in this case – not by email, not by phone, and not by carrier pigeon.
Simpson said he got it.
Simpson's Las Vegas booking photo, via AP
Simpson, who maintains that he was only trying to retrieve memorabilia stolen from him, stood in court today in handcuffs amid tight security, with people entering the courtroom checked by security officers and bomb-sniffing dogs. The case has attracted a swarm of media coverage. Among the reporters: Marcia Clark, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson for the 1994 murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and became a correspondent for “Entertainment Tonight.”
Simpson has been held since Sunday in protective custody in a 7-foot-by-14-foot cell. His lawyer, Yale Galanter of Miami, arranged his release today with Nevada prosecutors.
“These are very serious charges,’’ Galanter has told NBC. “He is taking it very seriously.’’
Simpson, 60, was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into his hotel room at the Palace Station casino and took several items that Simpson claimed belonged to him.
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Comments
Released on bail? Did the LAPD ever recoup the cost of the last time he skipped bail?
Posted by: RomanB | September 19, 2007 12:46 PM
YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HIDE FROM GOD !!!
THOU SHALL NOT KILL, REMEMBER ????
SONER OR LATER, SOMEWAY, SOMEHOW, YOU WILL PAY !!!
Posted by: edith | September 19, 2007 12:53 PM
Apparently. ESPN thought it was some sort of sports event, so I was able to view it live. I distinctly heard the judge say "passenger pigeon". I wondered at the time why he didn't say "carrier pigeon". Could you correct your story?
Posted by: Rich D. | September 19, 2007 12:57 PM
They should have locked him up and thrown away the key a long time ago
Posted by: Jeff | September 19, 2007 12:59 PM
If O.J. Simpson raises bail on these latest charges we must wonder where he got the money. Doesn't O.J. owe Fred Goldman some money? If he can afford private counsel (again), how will he be able to afford that? I refer again to his obligations to Mr. Goldman. I just thought I'd ask.
Posted by: nwwghiaftc | September 19, 2007 1:36 PM
O.J. SHOULD BE LOCKED UP FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!
Posted by: PAT REESE | September 19, 2007 1:51 PM
Of all the "news" coverage, I found commemtators at CNN the most disgusting in that they repeatedly attempted to throw down the "race card" regarding this trial and practically drooled over the possibility of this trial "polarizing" the nation along racial lines.
I thought these charges were about whether O.J. and others committed illegal acts, not whether he is black. If anything, the parties involved prove how LOW O.J. has sunken over the years!
Posted by: J.B. Stone | September 19, 2007 3:19 PM
Something good is going to come from all this OJ thing in America. I mean we will either repent because we were dead wrong and mean spirited, misguided, lied to, or just flat out stupid in our own internal beliefs when it comes to someone being guilty or innocent.
It's not like we were there, and it's not like American Judicial System is fair. I think we are stroking our minds to reveal our own inner racial ties with old America or old american ways.
I think he didn't do it, No Black man can jump a 9 foot picket fence. Impossible, he jumped turnstyles at an airport in the 70's.
But media coverage towards some african americans is persistent and constant. Media coverage on celebrities females is beyond persistent and constant. I mean we are watching these people wake up and scratch their butts before they do.
So OJ good luck, stay black and hopefully like many of black men on deathrow, the DNA evidence will free you 20 years from now. Well its been 14 he only has 6 more to go.
But most of all BIG DEAL.
WE just have to ask ourselves, that was some serious EAVESDROPPING BY SOMEONE. TMZ SHOULD WORK FOR OUR NSA OR CIA OR FBI, THEY ARE GOOD.
Posted by: Roger Morris | September 19, 2007 3:45 PM
I am so sick of this whole story. It is obvious that O J was framed. He fell for the trap. The minute that he was arrested, the media went to interview the Goldmans. What do they have to do with these charges? It is obvious that White America has never gotten over the acquittal for the Goldman/Simpson murders. This is an effort to get around double jeopardy and seek belated vengeance for the Goldmans. I am sick of them too. If they really loved their son/brother why are they so focused on money? And as for as the "unbiased" reporters, you can hear the elation in their voices as they report the story. Now that the "witnesses" keep changing their stories/selling their stories, questioning whether the tape is altered, the police is trying to quickly work deals so that they can stack everything up against OJ. When will he learn that no matter how many Heisman trophies, and how many movies and commercials he makes, he is still just the N-word in this rascist white America. The minute he stopped being profitable for the rich NFL owners, and was fading into the background, he was fair game. He should have learned this lesson in 1994. It's really funny, I don't see this Rascist White America being all outraged and indignant about the thousands of coddled, priviledged WHITE Men who have been acquitted of charges. OJ was stupid enough to think he could buy justice like the white men he plays golf with, now that is funny.
Posted by: Sean | September 19, 2007 4:41 PM
Why are you covering this story?
Posted by: Terry | September 19, 2007 7:07 PM
The Sting
(it's just like the movie)
You have to admire Harvey Levin
(Henry Gondorff) how he collaborated with Thomas Riccio (Johnny Hooker)
to set up OJ Simpson (Doyle Lonnegan)
with the OJ memorabilia (the hook)
at the same time
leading DA David Roger (Lt. William Snyder) around by the nose.
Thomas Riccio records the whole robbery (the sting).
Riccio sells the tape to Harvey Levin managing editor of TMZ TV and magazine (the payoff).
I think the con was brilliant!
If I ran the Baltimore Sun?
You bet I'd hire Harvey Levin.
He's a genius!
Posted by: Steve Real | September 21, 2007 12:31 AM