Court of Public Opinion Harsh on Simpson

Sept. 17, 2007 — -- Scour the Internet blogs and it's hard to find an O.J. Simpson supporter these days.

The former NFL player -- best known for his acquittal in the murders of his ex-wife and another man -- now faces up to a 30-year sentence after his arrest Sunday in a Las Vegas hotel.

Prosecutors in Las Vegas told reporters that Simpson "is facing a lot of time." The high-profile athlete turned minor actor turned author ("If I Did It") is also having a rough time in the court of public opinion.

"My people are glad he got arrested," New York City radio talk show host Ron Kuby told ABCNEWS.com. "It's a second chance to put him behind bars. He got away with murder."

Kuby, a left-leaning civil rights lawyer, believed Simpson was guilty then and now. "I sided with my white friends on this," he said.

In 1995, after 134 days of televised testimony, Simpson was acquitted of the double murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The criminal trial mesmerized the world with a "dream team" of lawyers, witnesses out of central casting (such as serial guest Cato Kalin) and dramatic one-liners: "If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit."

"I wonder if he can get out of this charge using Johnnie Cochran and the dreaded Chewbacca defense?" wrote Ariel Zellman on simplydumb.com. The blogger was referring to the lawyer who successfully represented O.J. Simpson during his murder trial, and a fictional legal strategy used in television's "South Park" episode -- an argument deliberately used to confuse the jury.

One Parker, Colo., blogger echoed Simpson's final pledge after he was set free -- that he would find his wife's killer.

"Well," he writes on Topix.net, "he has checked out every resort and golf course in the country for the killers. He might as well conduct another 'sting operation' in jail. Maybe the killers are hiding there."

News reports said Simpson's defended entering the hotel room as part of a covert operation to recover sports memorabilia.

"A decade and change later, no one's buying it," said another blogger on Topix.net. "Now when O.J. incredulously asks, 'Why would I do that? Do you think I'm that stupid?' The answer is an emphatic, 'Yes.'"

Philip Vannatter, one of the lead detectives in the criminal trial, told ABCNEWS.com he wasn't surprised to hear Simpson had been arrested.

"He should be in prison," Vannater said. "He doesn't believe he can do any wrong. He's been pampered his whole life because he could run and carry a football. People have overlooked everything his whole life."

The 66-year-old detective from the Los Angeles Police Department retired to an Indiana farm just one year after Simpson's release and went on to co-write a book, "Evidence Dismissed." He contends the 12-member jury that acquitted Simpson had "stars in their eyes and cotton in their ears."

"He was guilty and the evidence was totally overwhelming," said Vannater. "The [1995] jury would have found him not guilty even if Johnnie Cochran had not said a word. They hated the Los Angeles Police Department."

When the celebrity news Web site TMZ.com released an audiotape of a man purported to be Simpson shouting questions while other men yelled orders to the people in the room, Vannatter said he flashed back to the murder trial.

"It reminded me of the 911 tape when Nicole [Brown] called police," said Vannatter, referring to the victim's blood-curdling screams for help. "I hope they send him away to prison for the rest of his life."

Retired LAPD detective Tom Lange, who co-wrote the book with Vannatter, told ABCNEWS.com that Simpson is "sociopathic."

"He's been in and out of these things," he said of the arrest. "He can't keep his face out of it. This is just another sign of his arrogance. He's where he belongs now."

Both Lange and Vannatter said the criminal trial, which came on the heels of city riots after the beating of Rodney King, reflected the anger toward the LAPD. Now, 12 years later, the racial climate in the United States is different, and both detectives believe Simpson could get a fair jury trial.

"But it's already a media circus," said Lange. "Obviously, people still have a fascination with this."

Veteran news correspondent Mike Miller, now retired, covered both the criminal trial and the subsequent civil trial when Simpson was found guilty for the murders and ordered to pay restitution to the Goldman and Brown families.

British-born Miller, who worked for 17 years in the Los Angeles bureau for Reuters, said the world was riveted with what was viewed as the trial of the century.

"What did strike me about the trial was the intense interest in Europe over a guy they had never heard of who was charged with murder," said Miller. "They had a morbid fascination. Lots of my relatives were watching it live and have consumed all the reruns."

Miller said he was not surprised that Simpson, once again, faced charges for wrongdoing.

"He seems to be in and out of trouble with the law since he moved to Florida," said Miller. "He's probably carrying too much baggage to get a fair trial. People are resentful that he literally got away with murder, in their minds at least."

Miller said he did not believe Simpson's "cockamamie story that he went to retrieve his property with golfing buddies.

"This is typical O..J," he said. "He's in denial about what he's doing."

In the homogenous makeup of Las Vegas, it may be harder to find a racially diverse jury, said Miller.

"They can't load the jury with black people in Las Vegas," he said. "Whether people even give a hoot about race is another thing. I kind of think the race card won't be played in this trial. Simpson is a black man who leads a white life. He'll have a difficult time persuading any jury not to convict him."

Renee Amoore, an African-American and deputy chairman of the state Republican committee in Pennsylvania, couldn't agree more.

"O.J. is crazy and out of control and he's been allowed to get away with things too many times," she said. "People are so fed up with him."

The racial climate in the country has changed, too, said Amoore, who points to better black role models like Oprah and Barack Obama.

"African-Americans are stepping up to plate," she said. "We are now saying how we feel and not going along to get along. We don't feel like victims anymore."

Amoore, a psychiatric nurse, said she thinks Simpson has "mental issues."

"He could have snapped during the first trial with all that attention," Amoore said. "He was a football player and a movie star. All of a sudden he was up for murder, and he wasn't guilty. He's like the kid who does something negative to try to get attention."

"I'd like to diagnose him," she laughed.

"A small group probably supports O.J.'s claim that this is just another vendetta," said WABC's Kuby. "He's not the brightest bulb in the world, but you'd think he would recognize that he has antagonized many people. It's hard to imagine where he gets that arrogance."