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October 4, 2008
Posted: 10:24 PM ET
LAS VEGAS, Nevada–It was a typical Friday night here, except for one thing. I, along with other media, was sitting in the hallway at the Las Vegas Regional Justice Center waiting for the jury to return a verdict in the case of the State of Nevada vs. O.J. Simpson.
O.J. Simpson embraces his sister, Carmelita Durio As last evening dragged on, we were told jurors didn’t want to go home, they wanted to continue deliberating. In fact, at one point, the court’s public information officer came out and said the jury was so intent on their deliberations, they had asked court personnel to leave them alone, that they didn’t need bailiffs to even periodically check on them to make sure they wanted to keep working. Finally, close to 11:00 p.m., (nearly 2 a.m. ET) Brent Bryson, defense attorney for co-defendant Clarence Stewart, bounded out of the elevator on the 15th floor, saying there was a verdict. As attorneys continued to arrive and even more media assembled, everyone waited for the two defendants in this case to arrive at the courthouse. Finally, a very serious Simpson and Stewart were met by their lawyers to take their place for the verdict, where so much was at stake. Before jurors entered the room, an emotional Simpson hugged his best friend, Tom Scotto, and gave an endearing look to his sister, Carmelita Durio. I watched the jurors file into the courtroom and only one alternate juror looked the way of Simpson. As the verdict began to be read for co-defendant Stewart, I heard count 1…guilty, count 2…guilty…count 3…guilty. I knew then and there that if Stewart was being convicted of all these crimes, so would Simpson. The courtroom was so silent, but from my vantage point I could hear the quiet sobs of Simpson’s sister as she clung to the family’s spokesperson and loyal companion, Scotto. Simpson had come to Las Vegas in September 2007 to be the best man at Scotto’s wedding. –Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent Filed under: Jean Casarez O.J. Simpson Trials
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