O.J.: Former football star granted parole after nearly nine years

Whether or not people believe former football star O.J. Simpson deserved to be granted parole after more than eight years behind bars depended largely on whether they think he is actually guilty of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Many people who found it difficult to swallow the not guilty verdict in that case believed he should spend the rest of his life behind bars. The evidence pointed heavily toward his having committed the murders, but a jury determined he did not do it.

But Simpson was not in jail for the deaths of those two people. He was acquitted on those charges in what was called the trial of the century in 1995. He was in prison for helping commit an armed robbery that involved some of his memorabilia that had been taken from him.

Simpson was a model prisoner during his stint in jail and was likely to be granted parole on that basis. Although we still have our doubts about his innocence in the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, that was not the issue before the parole board, nor should it have been.

Published in Editorials on July 20, 2017 9:47 PM