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Published January 25, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," December 5, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight, O.J. Simpson to the slammer for a long time, maybe even until he dies. One of the greatest football players of all time looks so different today. That signature cocky attitude? Gone. Simpson knew the game was over. He was caught. But he made one last effort, pleading his case to Judge Jackie Glass.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O.J. SIMPSON: Yes, your honor, I -- I stand before you today sorry, somewhat confused. I feel like apologetic to the people of the state of Nevada. I've been coming to Nevada since 1959. I worked summer jobs here for my uncle in '60 and '61, and I've been coming here ever since and I've never gotten into any trouble. People have always been fine to me.
When I came here, I came here for a wedding. I didn't come here to -- I didn't come here to reclaim property. I was told it was here. When he told me that Monday that the stuff was in Nevada, when he knew I was going to be in Nevada, I called my kids. I talked to my sisters. I called the Brown family and I told them I had a chance to get some of our property back, property that over the years, we've seen being sold on the Internet. We've seen pictures of ours that were stolen from our home going into the tabloids. We've called the police and asked what to do. They told us what to try to do. But you can never find out who was selling it.
And this was the first time I had an opportunity to catch the guys red-handed who had been stealing from my family. I knew these guys. I did think Mike Gilbert was -- would be there. And I know, as Faith (ph) told me, the two guys did it. He was the one who did it. But I have no hatred for Mike Gilbert. In the past, as we know, you heard on the tape, Mike Gilbert tried to set me up in a porn video, tricked me into a room with hidden cameras. And they still wrote in the newspaper and the tabloids, they still had cover stories that O.J. did it, even though there was no porn video, even though I didn't participate in it.
I forgave Mike. I yelled at him. And I forgave him, just like I yelled at Bruce and Beardsley. And I've forgiven them. We've talked about it, Beardsley and I, the next day. And Bruce said -- I didn't talk about it. His kids have called me since this. We've apologized to each other.
The only person I asked -- I requested to help me here was Mr. Stewart. I did request him. I needed his car. I asked him if he had some guys to help me remove these things from the room. I didn't ask anybody to do anything but to stand behind me, allow me to yell at these guys, and then help me remove those things.
And if they wouldn't let me remove them, we would call the cops on them because I felt that they were -- they were wrong. They had turn-over orders, and they hadn't turned over some of these things that were both garnishable and things that were not garnishable. I didn't want him to yell at them. I think Mr. McClintock (ph) in the previous trial said that I didn't ask them to yell at anybody. Unfortunately, they did, and I believe it was my fault because I brought them there. And I knew the character of a couple of guys that were there, and it was my fault that they were there.
But in no way did I mean to hurt anyone or steal anything from anyone. I spoke to Bruce before I left the room. He told me what was his. And I got to the car, and I said, Exactly what do you have? I want to send it back to you.
I talked to the police officers. I volunteered immediately to come back, show them what was taken and to tell them what took place before anybody talked to the police. I was the first guy that volunteered to do it. And I heard on the tapes that they thought I was stupid for doing it. But I didn't want to steal anything from anybody. I don't think anybody there said I wanted anybody else's stuff, just my own.
I wanted my daughter -- Miss Brown gave her her mother's wedding ring -- stolen. You know, my kids had pictures. My oldest son has his own family now. He wanted the picture in the Oval Office with Gerald Ford when he was 5 years old -- stolen. All of these things were gone. My family knew what we were doing.
And I didn't want to hurt Bruce. I didn't want to hurt any of these guys. I know these guys. These guys have eaten in my home. I've done book reports with their kids. I've sung to their mothers when they were sick.
And I wasn't there to hurt anybody. I just wanted my personal things. And I realize I was stupid. And I am sorry. I didn't mean to steal anything from anybody. And I didn't know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends and retrieving my property. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it.
But all the other guys except Mr. Stewart volunteered. They wanted to go. Mr. Stewart is the only person that I asked would he come to help me. All the rest of them, when they found out, they volunteered. Come on, let us go. One of them wanted to be the security guy. He claimed he was a security guy. But I didn't mean to hurt anybody and I didn't mean to steal from anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: After O.J. Simpson spoke, Judge Glass handed down the sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE JACKIE GLASS, CLARK COUNTY DISTRICT COURT: I'm going to sentence you as follows. Count one, conspiracy to commit a crime, one year in the county jail. Count two, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, a minimum term of 12 months, maximum term of 48 in the Nevada Department of Corrections. Count two to run concurrent to count one.
Count three, conspiracy to commit robbery, a minimum term of 12 months, max term of 48 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections. Count three to run concurrent to count two. Count four, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, a minimum term of 26 months, a maximum term of 120 months in the Nevada Department of Corrections. Count four to run concurrent to count three.
Count five, the first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, a fixed term of 15 years, parole eligibility beginning after five years with a consecutive 12 to 72. That'll run concurrent to count four. Count six, first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, a fixed term of 15 years with parole eligibility beginning after 5 years, with a consecutive 12 to 72.
That concludes today's sentencing. We're adjourned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Let's bring in our panel. The panel is with the entire hour. Tom Riccio, who was there at the crime. He set up the meeting between O.J. and the memorabilia dealers, and he recorded the robbery. Riccio is author of the book "Busted." Tom Scotto, whose wedding in Vegas is why O.J. was in Vegas on September 13 last year. Scotto was recently with O.J. in jail. Mike Gilbert, one of Simpson's best friends for decades, his former agent, the guy O.J. thought stole his stuff and the guy O.J. spoke about today in court. Kato Kaelin, the world's most famous house guest...
KATO KAELIN, WITNESS AT SIMPSON MURDER TRIAL: Thanks, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: ... And a key witness in Simpson's murder trial. Former LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman, who investigated the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. And Gloria Allred, former lawyer for the Brown family.
And Kato, because you have geographical preference because you're from Wisconsin, I'll start with you. (LAUGHTER)
VAN SUSTEREN: And on a -- and I shouldn't be -- I shouldn't joke, I guess. But on a serious note, as you looked at O.J. Simpson today, what did you think, Kato?
KAELIN: Well, you know what, Greta? Seeing him doing that monologue, the speech he have to Judge Glass, I knew immediately that she was not buying into it at all. You know, and maybe it was heartfelt from him, but not at all. She had her mind made up, and no matter what he had said, it didn't matter. She was -- her mind was made up and she didn't buy into O.J. at all. There was -- you know, tears or no tears, this judge said he was arrogant, he had stupidity. And she even said it that she didn't know how to take him before the trial. Then during the trial, she said, it's both those things.
So her mind was set up, and no matter what O.J. said, he was history.
VAN SUSTEREN: Mike, you're one of O.J. Simpson's oldest friends, and in some ways, almost the star of today's sentencing. O.J. Simpson said that you did it, that he doesn't have any hatred for you, but that you did a lot of things, including trying to trick him into a porn film. We'll have a lot of time to talk about those things, but as you watched your old friend, your old client, what did you think?
MIKE GILBERT, O.J. SIMPSON'S FORMER SPORTS AGENT: Unlike Kato, at first, Greta, I had some sympathy for him because I remembered the old days, you know, from '67 at SC and all the way through. And I just thought, How did he end up here, in such a pathetic position? And then when he went in and he still couldn't take Republican and blamed me -- you know, everything I took, Greta, from that house, as you know -- I've told you before -- was at his request to keep it from the Goldman family. Everything that ever left that house...
VAN SUSTEREN: So was today just...
GILBERT: ... Was at his order...
VAN SUSTEREN: So did you see those tears today, or almost tears, Mike, as phony, or did some part of you have a little sympathy for him?
GILBERT: Well, I think it was sympathy for himself. It wasn't sympathy for what he did. It wasn't, you know, really admitting to breaking the law. It was O.J. feeling sorry for O.J. going to jail for a very long time.
VAN SUSTEREN: Mark, also had a big role in this trial in 1994 and '95, your thoughts as you watched?
MARK FUHRMAN, FMR LAPD HOMICIDE DETECTIVE, FOX ANALYST: Well, it's interesting, Greta, that -- I think I'm the only one on the panel that doesn't know O.J. Simpson, so mine is strictly from what happened professionally and then from that day forward.
When I see this, I think it was just a matter of time, that his conduct since that 1995 acquittal has been kind of on the fringe, not only with the civil judgment but several other incidents in Florida, the incident with the cable television, domestic calls that have come out from his residence. So it's really not a surprise. I just don't think that O.J. Simpson ever realized that he's got to change the way he thinks about his life and other people's.
VAN SUSTEREN: Gloria, I don't know if -- I don't think you know O.J. Simpson. I think Mark may have missed one on you by saying that you -- he's the only one who doesn't know O.J.. I don't think you'd probably admit to knowing him. But anyway, your thoughts as you watched, as you looked at him talking?
GLORIA ALLRED, FORMER BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: ... He had to do was call and ask the best way to get his property back, and his attorneys, including Yale Galanter, would have told him not to do what, in fact, he did. He's left many victims in his path, not only Nicole, not only Ron, but his two children, Sydney and Justin. Now they have neither a mother nor a father because their mother's dead because of his -- his wrongful acts against the mother. And in fact, his children now have no father because he's going to be absent and in prison.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tom, he was in Las Vegas to attend your wedding. You're a friend of his. Watching it, what did you think?
TOM SCOTTO, FRIEND OF O.J.: Well, it was very sad to see my friend that way. He looked like a broken man. It was very sad for me to watch.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, was that -- do you feel sorry for him, or do you think he got what he deserved?
SCOTTO: No, I do feel sorry for him. I think this was all revenge for the 1995 murders. You know, I sit here and watch Kato and Mike Gilbert, you know, kind of trash talk O.J., and he's -- O.J.'s been good to these people for years. I mean, Kato lived in his guest house for free, and Mike Gilbert lived off him for about 20 years. I mean, for them not to take responsibility, for Mike Gilbert not to take responsibility for what he did, I mean, is -- is -- to me is appalling.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, panel, stand by. And we're going to get to Thomas Riccio and Mike will get to respond to that, Kato, as well. They're here for the entire hour.
But tonight's live vote, the topic, what else? O.J. Simpson. Go to Gretawire.com and answer this question. Would you have given O.J. Simpson more than the 33 years this judge gave him, yes or no? We're going to read your results at the end of the hour.
And coming up, the family of murdered good samaritan Ron Goldman. They have something to say. Plus, O.J. Simpson's lawyers go "On the Record." What is O.J. saying now that he has learned that he is headed to prison for a very long time? You'll find out coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, who doesn't know that O.J. Simpson beat a double murder case in 1995? And the victims? His ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a good Samaritan, a guy just doing a favor, just returning some glasses Nicole's mother dropped at a restaurant. His name, Ron Goldman. Ron Goldman's father, Fred, and sister, Kim, after the sentencing today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED GOLDMAN, FATHER OF RON GOLDMAN: We're thrilled. It's kind of a bittersweet moment, knowing that that SOB is going to be in jail for a very long time, where he belongs. It was satisfying seeing him in shackles, like he belongs. And he still had that arrogant look on his face when he came in and that arrogant look on his face when he walked out. He'll never change, and he's going to stay in jail for a very long time.
KIM GOLDMAN, SISTER OF RON GOLDMAN: When they started doing the sentencing, when they started talking about the minimum time that he's going to spend in jail, the time that he is not out causing us havoc and reminding us of the pain that he caused us 14 years ago is an amazing feeling. And to watch him sit there in shackles, to watch him walk back through that door -- twice in our lifetime, he's walked out the same door as our family, and it was nice to see him walk (INAUDIBLE) his door, into his jail cell.
FRED GOLDMAN: There's never closure. Ron is always gone. And what we have is satisfaction that this monster is where he belongs, behind bars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Let's bring back our panel and go to Tom Riccio, who is the author of the book, "Busted." He's the one who was in that room, recorded it. Tom, in looking at some notes, I noted that you think the world is out for O.J. Simpson.
TOM RICCIO, AUTHOR, "BUSTED": Yes, you know, for the last 13 years, they've been dreaming of the day that O.J. would be in court, crying for mercy to a judge. And you know, I heard O.J. wasn't supposed to speak today, and the judge really wanted to hear him cry for his life, and the world got it today.
VAN SUSTEREN: Here's what I don't get, though, Tom. You wrote a book, "Busted." You're the one who recorded. You're the one who sold it. You're the one who summoned everybody to the room. I don't get now -- you're thinking sort of, like, the world has it out for him. It almost sounds like, you know, that you're the one who had it out for him because you're the one who, you know, brought everybody together.
RICCIO: I don't understand the question. What was the question?
VAN SUSTEREN: I don't -- I don't get how -- do you have sympathy for O.J. Simpson tonight, Tom?
RICCIO: I mean, I know that O.J. didn't plot a kidnapping or a robbery. And I'm just miffed by the fact that the media never talks about the fact that the gunmen had videocameras on them. Who pulls guns out with videocamera on them? The guy said it in court. (INAUDIBLE) for a year, people have been saying I set up O.J. because I had a recorder in the room and -- but this guy had a videocamera on him, pulled a gun out when there was no need to pull a gun out. And you know, that miffs me. That's -- that's...
VAN SUSTEREN: All right...
RICCIO: That's what disturbs me the most.
VAN SUSTEREN: I guess what misses me is you taping it and selling it, then. But whatever.
Mike, I told you you'd get a chance to respond moments ago. Tom Scotto and you obviously have a very different view of the situation.
GILBERT: Absolutely, Greta.
FUHRMAN: Well, you know, it's interesting...
GILBERT: Tom is somebody -- Tom is someone who met O.J. after the homicides, after the murders. And he's looking at him and seeing only -- if you could say the goodness of (INAUDIBLE) Tom Scotto -- seeing the goodness in O.J. Does he not realize that this man murdered two people? I didn't ask O.J. to come to the hotel room. O.J. gave me those items to move from his house. If O.J. wanted them and he wasn't out to do bodily harm to somebody, let me ask you this, Tom. Why did O.J. never contact me to get any of these items back? He had an attorney, Yale Galanter. Yale never asked for the items back. And now you defend O.J. that I should feel sorry that I made a living off of him? O.J. also made a great deal of money, Tom. Remember, he got 80 percent, I got 20.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tom, you want to -- Tom Scotto, you want (INAUDIBLE) take a break and we'll get back to the entire panel again later. Do you want to reply, Tom?
SCOTTO: Yes. I mean, I think there's something very wrong with this country that somebody's found innocent of a crime and everybody walks around and call him murderer. And then they say they want to believe in the -- they believe in the justice system. I mean, so hypocritical that it's unbelievable to me. And I got a lot more to say if you want to go to break. I mean...
VAN SUSTEREN: And I'm going to go to a break because I want to get to all of you again. Panel, if you'll stand by?
And next, we're going to also play the raw recording of O.J. Simpson and his accomplices committing the armed robbery in Las Vegas. So you'll hear the actual crime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now you go behind the scenes of that armed robbery that put O.J. Simpson behind bars, possibly for the rest of his life. Now, one of our guests, Thomas Riccio, made a recording of the robbery.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SIMPSON: Don't let nobody out of this room. (DELETED)! Think you can steal my (DELETED) and sell it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SIMPSON: Don't let nobody out of here. (DELETED)! You think you can steal my (DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (DELETED) you! Mind your own business!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at this (DELETED)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get over there!
SIMPSON: You think you can steal my (DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Backs to the wall!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was trying to get past you!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk your (DELETED) over there!~
SIMPSON: Think you can steal my (DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike took it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You, against the (DELETED) wall!
SIMPSON: I know (DELETED) Mike took it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Search them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I know what Brian's trying to prove.
SIMPSON: I always thought you were a straight shooter!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm cool. I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So -- so...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get your (DELETED) (DELETED) up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand the (DELETED) up!
SIMPSON: Don't let nobody out of here, man. And you, I trusted you, man!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bag this (DELETED) up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bag this (DELETED).
SIMPSON: Where'd you get all my (DELETED) personal (DELETED)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bought it from Mike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike sold it, all right? You know...
SIMPSON: Bag this (DELETED) up. Bag it. Bag it!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Our panel is back, including Thomas Riccio, the man who made that tape.
Kato, let me jump back to 1994, when you were staying at the -- at the -- at the home with O.J. Simpson. Do you have any doubt about O.J. Simpson's guilt in that double homicide?
KAELIN: No. In my opinion, I think O.J.'s guilty. And Tom made -- I don't know the gentleman that made a comment about this. You know, I think O.J. Simpson got off for something that I think he committed, a double homicide. He was probably the luckiest man on earth to get off on something like that. And for him to keep getting in the news for bad things and bad things, it's all because of his ego. He wanted to be adulated by people. That's why -- that's why O.J.'s going to prison. The guy wanted to always be around the wrong type of person and always wanted to be the -- he was always doing something bad. So I don't know the gentleman who made comments about me, but I was much closer to Nicole, Sydney and Justin. So I just want him to know that, too.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kato, is there anything that didn't come out in the trial in 1994 to 1995 that -- that -- I mean, that you think about that you wish had come out or something, any piece of information? Because you were in closer proximity to O.J. Simpson than the rest of us.
KAELIN: I think the -- I thought the prosecution had everything -- you know, it's probably a question for Mark. But I thought -- I was sequestered. I didn't know everything that was going on. When I was asked my questions, I answered them. But I wasn't privy to see all the blood evidence, and I thought that was sort of the whole case that the prosecution had. So -- when Mark was at my door, I think I remember saying to them that I thought we had an earthquake, and that's where the glove was found, behind my room. And...
VAN SUSTEREN: Mark...
KAELIN: It was just a very unusual night.
VAN SUSTEREN: Mark, going back to that crime scene, that double crime scene in terms of the evidence on -- I mean, I know that it was horrible crime scene. I know, and I don't mean to be too graphic, but that Nicole Brown Simpson was almost decapitated, and multiple stab wounds of the good samaritan, Ron Goldman. But what were the clues on the scene, if you remember, that pointed in that direction of O.J.?
FUHRMAN: Well, you know, Greta, when you're at a crime scene -- and you know, we didn't know at that time, I certainly didn't know, what exactly had transpired. Nicole was -- had no shoes on with a cocktail dress and the door's open. She was absolutely inside. You know, the house was lit. And then you add another person with a fairly large coat, you know, for June. It was kind of chilly that night, and lying in the bushes. That was Ron Goldman. So they didn't really match.
But then there were the bloody footprints with drops of blood coming down to the left side of those footprints going to the alley and then disappearing, the obvious conclusion would be somebody entered a vehicle and then left.
Now you fast-forward to Lange and Vanatter wanting myself and Ron Phillips to go to the mansion to show them where it is. I had to ask directions from one of the patrolmen. It had been, like, I don't know, nine years since I had been up there on a radio call.
So you know, you get up there and you find what you -- what you believe to be blood on a vehicle that's parked outside of the estate, you have to make some attempt to find out if there's another victim that actually escaped or everything's OK in there. And then that's when I ended up talking to Kato.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know what the interesting this is? And Gloria, I'll go to you. People often forget this, is that (INAUDIBLE) focus on the criminal trial, and of course, this recent robbery. But in between that was the civil trial. And I'll never forget the pictures that they put up on the big screen of O.J. Simpson wearing those Bruno Magli shoes that surfaced -- the picture surfaced after the criminal trial. And those -- and during the deposition before even the civil trial, O.J. Simpson said, I would never wear those ugly- ass shoes. And of course, lo and behold, there he was wearing those shoes in that picture of him. It was devastating in the civil trial, wasn't it, Gloria.
ALLRED: It was. And a big difference in the civil trial and the criminal trial was that in the civil trial, he had to testify. He didn't testify in the criminal trial because he invoked his 5th Amendment privilege against self- incrimination. But since he had been acquitted in the criminal case, he had to testify in the civil case. He couldn't invoke the 5th anymore. He did, and obviously, the jury didn't believe him, and that is why...
VAN SUSTEREN: It was -- it was...
ALLRED: ... They found against him...
VAN SUSTEREN: It was -- it was...
ALLRED: ... In the civil case.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, it was a much lesser standard, but you've got the FBI saying in the criminal case, We don't know what -- we don't have the shoes, but they're Bruno Magli. Then there's a criminal not guilty verdict. Then there's a civil trial. He's deposed, and they -- and they say, Do you have -- do you have Bruno Magli shoes, and he says no. Then they come up with the picture of the Bruno Magli shoes. Then they show it to the civil jury. And then -- and then that verdict.
Anyway, we're going to take a quick break. Panel, stand by.
Coming up, the inside story from the guys on the inside. O.J. Simpson's lawyers go "On the Record." They talked to him in the cell block. How did O.J. react to the 33 years? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: The constitution says everyone has the right to a lawyer. You get an effective lawyer, but it is not easy to win a case when your client commits the crime on tape, and the prosecutor has that tape.
Moments ago O.J.'s lawyers Yale Galanter and Gabe Grasso went "On the Record."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Yale, Gabriel, thank you very much for joining us. And let me go first to you, Yale. After the sentencing, were you able to spend time with O.J. Simpson in the cell block, or did they take him away?
YALE GALANTER, O.J.'S ATTORNEY: Greta, we were able to spend with O.J., and we discussed what had happened, discussed what his future holds over the next couple of days to a week. And he was obviously very receptive and very relieved that the sentencing was over.
VAN SUSTEREN: How do you describe his demeanor? This was a guy on top of the world until about 14 years ago, or 12 years ago, and now he is off to prison.
GALANTER: Yes. Well, I have described his demeanor, Greta, as being very melancholy. I think today he really did have a sense of relief.
He was expecting for a much stiffer sentence. Gabe and I had prepared him for something that was a lot stiffer. The judge gave him something at the lower end of the guideline range.
So he was pleased, he was relieved. But yet he is very melancholy because he knows he will be behind bars at least for the next year or so.
VAN SUSTEREN: Gabe, what family was in the courtroom for O.J. Simpson today?
GABE GRASSO, O.J.'S ATTORNEY: His sister Shirley(ph), his daughter Arnell(ph), Shirley's husband Bennie(ph), his sister, Ms. Durio(ph). I just know her as Ms. Durio(ph), she was there.
And those were the main people that were there from the family. Ms. Durio's husband was there. Carmelita(ph) Durio(ph), she was there. And those were the main people.
There were a lot of friends there. The Barnets(ph) were there, and Sherman White was there, one of his ex-football buddies who had played with him in Buffalo. He had a good grip there.
VAN SUSTEREN: Gabe, since you're the Nevada lawyer, what kind of facility is he headed off to?
GRASSO: Right now, usually it takes a week to two weeks to get somebody from the county jail once they're sentenced to prison off to prison. In this case, I think, he will move a little faster, probably much faster, maybe today or this weekend, or at least by Monday.
And with respect to where he is going, he will be going to High(ph) Dessert(ph)/Indian Springs, which is actually two facilities that are about 40 minutes to an hour outside of Las Vegas, northwest of Las Vegas.
And they are out in the middle of the desert. They are where people are processed. And from there, he could stay there possibly, or he could go to the Ilee(ph) state prison, which is up in northeast Nevada, or he could go to Lovlock(ph), which is in Carson City.
VAN SUSTEREN: Yale, you have been O.J.'s lawyer for an awful long time. He has been really cocky, and it's almost like he was looking for trouble on this one. What happened to this guy?
GALANTER: Obviously, the classic American story of a fall from grace- -15 years ago he was one of the most popular celebrities on the planet. And today, he is despised by the bulk of the population.
What happened is a really very good question. I cannot answer that. I can tell you that in this particular case, Greta, I think that he didn't use good judgment. I put in court papers that I thought his acts were stupid. But I do not think they rose to criminality, because I really do not believe that he thought he was committing a crime. I think he thought that he was taking back his own property. And, as we know, most of the stuff that was in the Palace Hotel station room was on the night of September 13 was, in fact, his.
VAN SUSTEREN: Yale, you're a great lawyer. I've known you for, and sometimes you have to try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as a judge once said about some argument I was making. That tape from that room was so violent it is really hard to thin that he was innocently going after his stuff because of the rage. And I think that was the most damning thing that you had to contend with as a defense lawyer. I thought it was an impossible piece of evidence to fight.
GALANTER: Yes. The tapes were very damning. And I agree with you. I think the language in the tapes was terrible. I think conduct that you gleaned from the conversations in the tape was horrible.
But, Greta, the one thing you do have to keep in mind, and it is not just the defense lawyer Yale talking, and I appreciate your kind words, but--
VAN SUSTEREN: I have been there, Yale. Yale, I know when the cards and the evidence are stacked against you. And when your client is caught on tape committing a crime, you don't need a lawyer. You need a magician.
GALANTER: No doubt this is one of the toughest cases I have ever had with O.J., and, quite frankly, one of the toughest cases I have ever had in my career.
But I think the only saving grace, and I think this is reflected in the sentence that Judge Glass(ph) gave him, was the fact that he knew everybody in the room. His intent wasn't to harm anyone. And, thank god, nobody was harmed during the commission of these acts.
VAN SUSTEREN: Gabe, Yale, thank you both very much for joining us. It's always nice to see you both.
GALANTER: It's my pleasure, Greta. Take care. Bye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Up next, did the judge punish Simpson for the 1995 murders of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson? You will find out from the judge next.
Plus, the earwitness, a woman who heard the whole robbery go down give you the inside story coming up. That's all coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: O.J. Simpson's going to prison maybe for the rest of his life. He beat that double-murder case in 1994 and `95, and, as you know, thousands and thousands of people in this country have been furious with that not guilty verdict.
Today he was sentenced for convictions arising out of the September 2007 robbery in Vegas. But do you think the judge gave him extra time because he beat that double murder?
Judge Jackie Glass says no, today's sentence is based only on the robbery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLASS: There is nothing more that is going to happen here other than a sentence for you, Mr. Stewart, and a sentence for you, Mr. Simpson, based on the evidence that occurred in this case.
I am not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else. I want that to be perfectly clear to everyone.
I said to Mr. Simpson that I did not know if he was arrogant or ignorant or both. And during the trial and through this proceeding, I got the answer. And it was both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Did the 1994 murders have anything to do with the sentence? Our panel is back.
Thomas Riccio(ph) taped the robbery. Riccio(ph) is author of the book "Busted." Tom Scotto(ph) Simpson was in Las Vegas at the time of the robbery for Scotto's(ph) wedding.
Mike Gilbert, Simpson's former agent, and longtime friend Kato Kaelin, a houseguest of O.J.'s who became a key witness in Simpson's murder trial, former LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman, who investigated the '94 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, and Gloria Allred, former lawyer for the Brown family.
Tom Scotto, when was the last time you spoke to O.J., and what did he have to say?
TOM SCOTTO, O.J. SIMPSON'S FRIEND: I spoke to him about three or four days ago. And was just like Yale said--he was looking forward to his sentencing so he could get on with his appeal.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did he say anything at all about the predicament that he found himself in? After all of the years and all the trouble, this is where it ends up.
SCOTTO: I do not think there is anyone who can claim that they are closer to O.J. Simpson than myself. And I think he is not an angel. There is a lot he sees now that he has done wrong, you know, he is regretful for, he has remorse.
And he has made a lot of mistakes in his life. But he made a lot of mistakes with people that he trusted, and it just did not work out his way.
I just want to say that I was in that car when it pulled up to the Palms Hotel to go with O.J. Simpson. I would have never went if I thought it would be a robbery or an armed robbery, just like he didn't think that it would turn into that.
And Tom Riccio(ph) might have set up, but I have had dinner with him and his wife, and he is a sincere guy. He doesn't pretend to be somebody he's not. I have grown to like him, to be honest.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tom Scotto, what's O.J. Simpson's relationship with his two children, the two he had with Nicole Brown Simpson? Is he speaking to them, seeing them?
SCOTTO: Yes, he is speaking with them. They wanted to be at the sentencing today, but O.J. decided it would not be a good idea because of the media, and then they would have to go back to school. So they are going to see him some time around Christmastime. He just did not want to put them in that atmosphere today.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kato, do you have a message for O.J. if you could talk to him?
KATO KAELIN, KEY WITNESS IN MURDER TRIAL: No, I don't. I haven't had any contact at all for 13 years. So, no, there is nothing to be said.
VAN SUSTEREN: It is just over, right? He goes off to prison.
KAELIN: Greta, quickly, I lived there for only six months. I was not like this guy who hung out with him. He had his own set friends. I had my friends. I was the guy in the guest house. And that's pretty much it.
Like I said, Sydney and Justin, the kids were great. They named their dog Kato after me. I wasn't a hang out buddy with O.J.'s, and I want people to know that.
VAN SUSTEREN: Mike, you were a hang out buddy. You were very close to him. Do you have a message for O.J. tonight?
MIKE GILBERT, O.J. SIMPSON'S FORMER SPORTS AGENT: I don't know if it would really be to a O.J. I guess it would be to all of us, everyone who was around him before June 12.
How did all go wrong? I know there is a lot of things that all of us wish we could go back and change. I know O.J. wishes he could go back to June 12 and change that, and change a lot of things that's happened in the past.
It's a tough thing to imagine him going away for the rest of his life or even just a long time. I do still remember the other side of O.J., as well.
VAN SUSTEREN: Gloria, do you have a message for O.J.?
GLORIA ALLRED, FORMER BROWN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Yes. I hate to interrupt this love fest for O.J., but my message to O.J. Simpson is guilty, guilty, guilty. You are finally paying the price for your criminal acts.
This was not a mistake. This was an intentional series of criminal acts, and I am glad that you will have to pay the consequences and have a long time in prison to think about what you have done and the people you have hurt in your life.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thomas Riccio (ph), you get the last 30 seconds on this. What would you say to him?
RICCIO: It could have been worse. He was facing double life. He got nine year. Hopefully he can get out and reunite with his family and salvage something of his life. And I hate to see anybody fall from grace like he did, but there is hope.
VAN SUSTEREN: Panel, thank you all very much for joining us.
And up next, you go behind the scenes of the robbery. A witness who heard the heist go down in Vegas goes "On the Record." What did this woman hear? She will tell you the whole inside story, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: O.J. Simpson had a really bad day. He is going to prison for a maximum of 33 years for multiple charges stemming from an armed robbery.
O.J. was confronting two memorabilia dealers who he claimed had some of his property. Christy Hayes was on the phone with one of the memorabilia dealers during the robbery. She joins us by phone.
Welcome, Christy. Christy, who were you talking to on the phone when this happened?
CHRISTY HAYES, OVERHEARD O.J. ROBBERY: To Bruce Fromong.
VAN SUSTEREN: What did you hear?
HAYES: I was in a pretty lengthy conversation prior with Bruce prior to hearing anything, and I heard, all of a sudden, a bunch of noise, just a bunch of people screaming. Then I heard, "Put the gun down!" And somebody else said "I'll shoot your ass."
VAN SUSTEREN: Before this, did you know O.J. Simpson?
HAYES: I have never met him. I have only spoken to him.
VAN SUSTEREN: About how many times prior to the robbery in September of '07 had you had a conversation with them?
HAYES: Probably three or four times.
VAN SUSTEREN: Did you recognize the voice of the person you heard screaming?
HAYES: No, I did not.
VAN SUSTEREN: After that you heard the noise in the room and the voices. What happened next?
HAYES: I was hung up on by Bruce.
VAN SUSTEREN: When was the next time you talked to Bruce or heard there was a problem?
HAYES: The next morning, right after it happened.
VAN SUSTEREN: What did Bruce tell you the next day?
HAYES: He just told me that was robbed. That was pretty much it, that he got robbed by O.J. Simpson. And I immediately hung up, and I called Mike right away. And that's when I told Mike what I had heard.
VAN SUSTEREN: And by "Mike," you mean Mike Gilbert, who was just on the show and who was an agent for a long time for O.J. Simpson.
Did Bruce know O.J. was coming to the room and why he was coming to the room?
HAYES: He says he did not.
VAN SUSTEREN: He had no idea he was coming to the room?
HAYES: He had no idea that O.J. was coming.
VAN SUSTEREN: What was in that room?
HAYES: Sports memorabilia. I had gotten a text message from Mike, Mike Gilbert, stating that Bruce was selling some of his stuff. And I was very irritated about that, so I called Bruce in a rage, asking him what he was selling this stuff when he had no business is selling it. And at that time I had no idea that he was selling it at that moment.
VAN SUSTEREN: Had Bruce taken the stuff improperly from Michael Gilbert?
HAYES: Yes, he did. What had happened was the stuff was in a locker that was in my name, and the only reason it was in my name was Mike Gilbert had asked me to put it into my name because Al Beardsley had threatened him that he knew where his locker was and he was going to go get the stuff.
So Mike asked me to put it in my name in a locker.
VAN SUSTEREN: And then Bruce got out of there. So basically the situation, and we have only 30 seconds left, is that it's Mike Gilbert's stuff. He claims that Bruce took the stuff improperly, brought it to the room. O.J. says that's his stuff, and he was going to the room because he said that Bruce inappropriately, or Mike Gilbert, had the stuff. So everyone is claiming the same stuff with their guns involved.
HAYES: Absolutely.
VAN SUSTEREN: Christy, thank you very much. And what an unusual tale this has been for O.J. Simpson. What a long story, beginning, of course, with an unbelievable football career, and then in 1994 that double homicide on June 12, and then the not guilty verdicts. And then we had the civil trial in 1997.
You still have three more minutes for your live vote. Would you have given O.J. Simpson more than 33 years for this robbery in September? Go to Gretawire.com and tell us right now. So go vote.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: O.J. Simpson is going to the slammer. Would you have given O.J. Simpson more than 33 years for this robbery? Sixty-one percent of you said yes, 39 percent of you said no. Thank you for voting.
We will see you all again on Monday. Don't forget to go to Gretawire.com. All weekend long we'll be blogging. Goodnight from Washington.
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