By TORI RICHARDS in Las Vegas and DAVID K. LI in New York
Last updated: 12:33 pm
October 4, 2008
Posted: 4:34 am
October 4, 2008
O.J. Simpson's luck has finally run out!
After deliberating nearly 13 unlucky hours, a Las Vegas jury found the Juice guilty late last night of all charges related to a gun-slinging hotel-room robbery last year of two sports memorabilia dealers with past ties to the football Hall of Famer.
PHOTOS: O.J. Simpson Found Guilty
Yesterday was also the unlucky 13th anniversary of the Simpson's infamous acquittal in Los Angeles when a jury cleared him of the alleged murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her pal Ron Goldman.
But O.J. couldn't juke justice this time, as a Sin City panel of nine women and three men deliberated well into the night, before finding him guilty on all 12 counts, including kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.
The Juice grimaced and shook his head occasionally as the court clerk read the dozen "guilty" verdicts.
He looked straight ahead, while jurors made no eye contact with the American sports icon, who might never see freedom again.
Shortly after the last verdict was read, courtroom lights went out briefly and Judge Jackie Glass told everyone to freeze before the lights came back on moments later.
Simpson, who faces 15 years to life in prison, stood dazed as court officers cuffed him and led him away.
O.J.'s best friend, Thomas Scotto, held his crying wife in the gallery's front row as a red-eyed Simpson was taken into custody.
Scotto shouted, "I love you, man," as bailiffs led Simpson away, in what could have been the Juice's last public appearance in a coat and tie.
"He's extremely upset, extremely emotional, but it was something that was expected," Simpson's downcast lawyer Yale Galanter said after visiting his client in lockup.
"We knew this was a very difficult jurisdiction."
The one-time grid great's sister Carmelita Durio collapsed after seeing her brother hauled off and paramedics rushed into court to revive her.
Simpson, who will be sentenced on Dec. 5, was in Vegas last fall to attend Scotto's wedding when the Juice cooked up this scheme to rip off sports collectors Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.
The former NFL MVP believed the men were holding his personal belongings, including autographed footballs and sentimental photos, which were stolen years earlier.
Jurors found that Simpson, 61, and co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart - also convicted of all charges - led a band of armed thugs into the Palace Station Hotel & Casino last Sept. 13 to go after the goods.
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