OJ Simpson takes stand in bid for new trial
LAS VEGAS – DECEMBER 5: OJ Simpson stands during sentencing at the Clark County Regional Justice Center December 5, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart were sentenced on 12 charges, including felony kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy related to a 2007 confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel. (Photo by Issac Brekken-Pool/Getty Images)
O.J. Simpson, the former football star famously acquitted of murder in 1995, took the witness stand in Las Vegas Wednesday.
Dressed in a blue prison uniform, he said his former attorney Yale Galanter advised him he could use some force to reclaim personal sports memorabilia he believed were stolen as long as he did not trespass, CNN reported.
He is seeking a new trial because he insists that Galanter did not adequately represent him.
"The overall advice that he gave me is that you have a right to get your stuff. He gave me an example that if you're walking the street and you see your laptop in a car, you can use force to break the window of the car," Simpson told the court.
The 65-year-old is serving nine to 33 years in prison for his 2008 conviction in the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a hotel in Las Vegas, AP reported.
Simpson said Wednesday he was drunk the night before, then began drinking at a midday breakfast and kept drinking by the hotel pool.
Reuters reported Simpson's current attorneys have asked the court to throw out his 2008 conviction because Galanter had a conflict of interest and knew in advance that Simpson planned to confront the sports dealers at the hotel.
Simpson was found not guilty of the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
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