LAS VEGAS — Lawyers for O.J. Simpson and a former golfing buddy hope to persuade a Nevada Supreme Court panel to spring the two men from prison while the justices review their convictions in a gunpoint hotel room heist.Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart won't be in a Las Vegas courtroom Monday for the 30-minute sessions allotted to their lawyers before a trio of justices from the state's only appellate court. Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who prosecuted the pair, will argue against release.
The justices won't make an immediate decision, but it is rare for the state high court to hear oral arguments on bond and even more rare to grant release.
Simpson, 62, is serving nine to 33 years for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in the September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room. Stewart, 55, is serving 7 1/2 to 27 years.
Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter has said Simpson won't flee if he's released, poses no danger to the community and will comply with any conditions the high court sets.
"C.J. is hopeful the court will take a look at the record and see that there are multiple issues on appeal that should get him a new trial," said Stewart's lawyer, Brent Bryson.
Bryson argues that Stewart, a former mortgage broker from North Las Vegas, should have been tried separately from Simpson, an NFL Hall-of-Famer, television star and celebrity criminal defendant acquitted in the 1994 slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in Los Angeles.
Galanter and Bryson said a favorable ruling from the court would signal how justices feel about their overall appeals, which are unlikely to be decided for at least a year.
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