O.J. Simpson Granted July Parole Hearing Date

The Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners confirmed on Tuesday that a parole hearing for O.J. Simpson has been scheduled for July 20th.

Simpson was found guilty of 12 charges in 2007 – including armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping – following a confrontation in a Las Vegas hotel involving stolen sports memorabilia. Simpson was facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison at the time, but he could soon be a free man if four out of the seven members on the parole board vote in favor of his release. If Simpson is granted parole, he will remain in custody until October 1st at the earliest.

“From what I’ve been told, the primary focus of his life is to get parole right now,” David Ng from the Los Angeles Times recently told USA Today. “What I’ve been told is that he’s on excellent behavior, he avoids problems when he can and that he really wants to be a free man.”

Simpson’s interview with the parole board will be in the form of a video conference, with Simpson stationed at Lovelock Correctional Center and the board 130 miles away in Carson City, Nevada. The hearing will be on closed-circuit television, according to The Washington Post, but a pool feed will be available to reporters.

Simpson was already granted parole on some of his offenses during a hearing in 2013 because of his “positive conduct while in prison” as well as other factors. While Simpson still had at least four more years in prison before he could be released following the hearing, Nevada defense attorney Dan Hill told CNN that his age and the fact he was given parole on the first sentence should work in his favor this time around. Sports Illustrated also wrote that Simpson’s odds of being released from prison are high based on the factors the board will use to evaluate his case.