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O.J. Simpson set to walk free after nine years behind bars

OJ Simpson will be released from prison in October after being granted parole.

OJ Simpson will be released from prison in October after being granted parole. Photo: Getty

O.J. Simpson could be a free man within days.

The One-time Trial of the Century defendant may be released from the Nevada prison where he has been held since 2008 for a botched robbery as early as Sunday (Monday Australian time).

Simpson, 70, won his freedom from a Nevada parole board in July after nine years behind bars, at a hearing that did not take into account his 1990s trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ron Goldman.

The former football star turned actor and TV pitchman nicknamed The Juice during his playing career was found not guilty in 1995 following that sensational, 13-month trial in Los Angeles, which was televised live daily, transfixing much of the nation.

A civil court jury subsequently found him liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $US33.5 million ($A42.7 million) in damages to the victims’ families, a judgment that remains largely unpaid.

OJ and Nicole Simpson

OJ Simpson will soon walk free, which makes him luckier than slain ex-wife Nicole.
AP Photo/Paul Hurschmann

The Nevada Department of Corrections, seeking to avoid the kind of media frenzy that often accompanies Simpson, has declined to say exactly when and where he would be released.

A department spokeswoman warned media not to try to chase his vehicle from the prison gates, saying officials could postpone the release for weeks if necessary to avoid “risk to the community” from such a frenzy.

Also unclear is the former star athlete’s ultimate destination. He told parole board members he hopes to move to Florida, where he has friends and family, a plan that must be approved by probation authorities there.

During the parole hearing, Simpson joked that he was willing to stay in Nevada but “I’m sure you don’t want me here”.

His Las Vegas-based attorney, Malcom LaVergne, reiterated the Florida plans during an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America program on Friday.
LaVerge said his client was looking forward to spending time with family members, eating steak and seafood and buying an iPhone.

Florida corrections officials say they had not received a parole transfer request for Simpson and had not been contacted by their counterparts in Nevada.

Simpson is a native of California, born in San Francisco, and played his final years as a pro football player for that city’s team, the 49ers. He lived in Los Angeles at the time of the murders.

But California corrections officials say he has not filed papers to live in that state either.

-AAP

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