O.J.'s Hail Mary

The Juice files appeal to overturn robbery and kidnapping conviction

LAS VEGAS -- O.J. Simpson has filed an appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court, seeking to overturn his conviction on armed robbery and kidnapping charges in a Las Vegas hotel room confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers.

A clerk said Simpson's 49-page appeal arrived Tuesday at the Supreme Court in Carson City.

The former football star, actor and advertising pitchman asks the high court to throw out his conviction on grounds that include judicial misconduct, insufficient evidence, a lack of racial diversity on the jury and errors in sentencing and jury instructions.

The document heaps blame on the trial judge, Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, and accuses prosecutors of improperly asking questions about allegations of witness intimidation in front of the jury.

"Cumulative error ... was so egregious and prejudicial that the defense could not get a fair trial," Simpson attorneys Yale Galanter of Miami and Malcolm LaVergne in Las Vegas say in the appeal, "therefore Simpson's case should be reversed."

Appeals in Nevada can take more than a year. Supreme Court spokesman Bill Gang said there was no way to know when the justices might rule.

"The amount of time it takes depends on the number and complexity of the issues raised," Gang said.

Simpson, 61, maintains that he was trying to retrieve property stolen from him when he and five other men confronted the two sports collectibles peddlers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room in September 2007.

Simpson and a co-defendant were convicted in October and sentenced in December. Simpson got nine to 33 years in state prison. He is housed at a prison in Lovelock, about 90 miles east of Reno.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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