fox news carrying live coverage angered from our own shepard smith from nevada, next. that's it for us. >> shepard: good afternoon from new york, i am shepard smith. i'll live look at the parole board room in carson city, nevada, four commissioners are about to decide whether o.j. simpson walks free on parole or stays behind bars. a jury convicted him of felony charges related to armed robbery from a hotel room in las vegas. >> mr. simpson is a wanted a murder suspect. >> shepard: then, the white

bronco. oj on the run after the death of his ex-wife and her friend. his trial lasted nearly a year. >> lead the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant not guilty of the crime of murder. >> shepard: for years, relative quiet until that night in vegas. o.j. simpson said he tried to get back memorabilia from collectors. cops called it a crime. >> i didn't know i was doing anything illegal. >> shepard: the judge sent to the juice to prison. which leads us here. alive look from the prison where o.j. simpson will appear from a

videoconference. he is serving a sentence of 9-33 years for his role in that armed robbery of two sports memorabilia agents in a las vegas hotel room. the commissioners are speaking, let's listen. o.j. simpson's defense argued that he was just trying to get back things that belonged to him but the jury did not buy it. he is scheduled to face the same four board members who in 2013 granted him parole on some of the charges in which the jury convicted him. we expect a ruling today, potentially within the next hour and there o.j. simpson is now walking into the courtroom at the age of 70, smiling ear to

ear. here we go. >> mr. simpson, will you please give me your mdoc number for the record? >> o. j.: 102-7820. >> mr. simpson, the first thing i am going to do is put on the record your notice in this hearing and ask you if you will recognize your signature, pleas please. >> having recognize your signature i will declare for the record that you have properly move forward.

we are seeing you this morning on an aggregated case sentence and that is cases number c237890, c237890, assault with a deadly weapon. use of a deadly weapon enhancement. use of a deadly weapon enhancement. one of the things i want to make you aware of, those enhancements include both the kidnapping and the robbery charges even though they are not necessarily the way i said it. a caseworker, i have a parole eligibility date of october 1st 2017 with a current expiration date of september 29, 2,022, is

that correct? at this point, is there anything that would change that parole eligibility date? >> that date is not going to change. >> mr. simpson you are getting the same hearing that everyone else gets. however, since we have a crowd of people here that have not taken advantage of our public meetings before in order to attend the hearing, some of the things i'm going to say will get lengthy. you will understand everything but it will be new for some folks, i want to understand that from the get-go.

as members of the nevada board of parole commissioners, we have an ethical duty to consider each inmate for parole in a fair and consistent manner. like other parole boards across the country, our responsibilities include balancing prisoner rehabilitation with public safety as well as taking action that considers the interest of justice. that is what we are doing here this morning. we have adopted guidelines in making consistent decisions, we have adopted elements in each inmate being considered for parole. of the board a scientifically developed, validated risk assessment as part of its parole guideline. the risk assessment helps us determine which inmates are more or less likely to return to prison if we release them on parole. using a risk assessment is not unique to nevada. as a number of other state parole boards also use them.

we have reevaluated our assessments three separate times in the past 14 years and it has consistently shown to be predictive. using this risk assessment has significantly improved our overall performance. i am going to go over each of those items with you at this time. it just as an aside, this is being revalidated even as we speak. it is pretty darn predictive is the bottom line. my first question for you, mr. simpson. were you arrested for the first time at the age of 24 or older? >> o. j.: i was arrested for the first time, i think i was 46 or 47. >> you were over the age of 24. >> o. j.: yes, ma'am. >> am i correct that you have never been on parole or probation before, therefore you have never had a parole or

probation revocation? >> o. j.: that is correct. >> i have that you are unemployed at the time of this offense because you are in retirement status. >> that is correct, yes. >> this is a property convictin conviction, you have been assessed as a property offender. we have also assessed you as having a substance abuse problem, i will tell you why that is. you have indicated in the past that alcohol had a big factor in this particular crime. of the fact that you have spent the last almost nine years in prison because of an alcohol related be indicative of having some sort of at least temporary substance abuse problem. we have scored you with having some history there. we have that you are currently, you very recently turned 90

years old. i'm sorry about that. >> o.j.: i feel like it, though. >> how about we take three decades off and call you 70. we don't have you as having any gang affiliation nor has the ndoc found you to have any gang involvement. you completed the vocational training in the computer application course, we know that you do not have any disciplinary's current or pending and that you are currently medium level at the correctional center. would you say those items are correct? >> o.j.: yes, ma'am. >> your risks for scores you at low risk, however because of your particular offense that severity is at the highest.

when we combine your score along with your offense severity, our guideline is to consider factor factors. whether or not you are a risk to reoffend and return to our criminal justice system. what we do at this point when we are looking at the risk score, we also look at what are called aggregating and mitigating factors. those don't include everything in the world. they are very specific as to what we consider under those items. under the ever aggravating and mitigating factors in your particular case, we have mitigating or positive things, the fact that you have been disciplinary free throughout your entire period of incarceration. you don't have any prior conviction history. you have community and family support. you have what appear to be stable release plans, you have participated in programming, some rather significant

programming. on the aggregating factors, the only thing that fits under our aggregating characteristic in terms of risk in your situation is that at the time of this offense your victims indicated that they were in fear for their safety, having been threatened with a gun during the commission of a crime. those are the risk aggregating and mitigating things we are considering. right now, i'm going to stop talking for a while and asked the members of the panel if they might have any questions of you. >> mr. simpson, you have lived most of your life in the public spotlight. you go into a hotel room in las vegas, bring along four other men with you, two of them are armed. you rob the two victims of property. what were you thinking? >> o.j.: this might be long, i

will try to be brief. i have been contacted by a man, he contacted me over a period of time and told me there were some guys trying to get him to my property and i should come and get it. i kind of blew him off because i'm not interested in football property, i don't collect memorabilia only my own personal items. he was pretty persistent and calling me and finally i asked for pictures of what they had. he sent me some pictures. what i saw was my family, my mother's albums, pictures of my kids growing up. certificates of accomplishments of mine, pictures of what i call significant famous people. the letters of myself. i told him i would really like

to get this stuff. after a period of time through what he described in court as a perfect storm, we all ended up in las vegas. i was there for a wedding, he told me that the property was there. what i like to try to get the property and i said of course i would like to get the property. he told me the names of what he thought were the people in the room and i realize these were friends of mine. actually guys who helped me move, helped me move and stored some of this stuff. on the day of this incident, he came to my hotel. to talk about how this would take place. i told him i met with my sister and my daughter and some other friends and discussed this, i pointed out another lawyer that

was a part of this wedding party that was going on. they told me that i can't do this, if we are going to their home or their storage. "o.j., you cannot go in there because if they ask you to leave you have to leave." i said you've got to get it and bring it to a public place. all of this has been testified to, i am not just going. he called me and told me he would bring it to his room and have it brought to his hotel. and i said of course i will come and get it. he said it's a lot of stuff, you better bring some friends. he also said you should bring security. i said i know these guys, i don't think i need security. it turns out one of the guys,

bruce, i didn't know it was him. i said i didn't know security. later that day when they arrived at his hotel with my property, he called and said they are here, if you come here i will meet you in the lobby. you need security, this guy beardsley, big guy. i think anybody who knows him knows he's a little different. i told him this guy is not dangerous but he said bring some security. during the day he was there and he met somebody from the wedding. one guy, mcclinton said he did security in las vegas and it would help his business if he had me as a client. after he insisted i said i could use his help. i went to the hotel, i met

mr. riccio in the lobby. the two guys, they also met us there which was a big mistake, obviously. i realized that quite soon after this. mr. riccio led us to his room, put the key in the door and let us in. i've seen the media reporting we broke into the room but we didn't break into any room, riccio brought us in there. when i came into the room, i noticed spread out everywhere was my personal property. the only thing i saw that was on display that wasn't mine were some baseballs and i made it clear to everybody that those were not mine, all i want is my property. there is a tape, you hear me on at least three or four cases say i just want my property. i'll try to make it a little quicker. at some point we started leaving, when we were leaving the room -- i had been pushed out of the room by the security

guys because while i was in there and i recognized bruce was there, i was surprised to see him, as he testified i was shocked to see him. bruce has been a friend of mine, he has traveled to me and we have done a lot of business together over the years. i said man, what are you doing here? he explained to me why he was there and why he had my property and i told him he should have told me. i accepted -- i understood. it was '06, '07, people were losing their homes, a guy owed him money, couldn't give him money, gave him my property to sell. i told him he should have told me. he apologized and i accepted his apology, i apologize for these guys pointing a gun at him. he's known me when i've had security, he's known me when the

venue has hired security and there were times when he had to have security for me. he knows i would never direct anybody to point a gun at him, i've never done this in my life. you mentioned those gun charges, bruce and alfred made it clear during the trial that i had no weapon. they didn't feel threatened by me. i haven't made any excuses in the nine years i have been here. in no way, shape, or form did i wish him any harm. as i was leaving the room, this is on the tape, too. bruce said o.j., hey man, there's a box with my stuff, those don't belong to you. those are mine, man.

he told me that because he recognized everything else i took out of that room was mine. he also recognized that i was not there to steal the stuff and he knew i would -- he didn't know at the time that the security walked out with a stolen blackberry. the minute i saw that, i made him send it back and he gave some cockamamie story in the trial of why he didn't take it back. in any event, i am no danger to pulling a gun on anybody. i never have in my life, i've never been accused of it in my life. nobody has ever accuse me of pulling any weapon on them. bruce knows i would never do that, i never have. i want to also as a postscript, when i got to lovelock, the state of california took up the issue of whose property it was. they did an investigation and

they came to the conclusion that it was my property. they turned it over to me. i have it now. it's kind of mind-boggling that they turned over to me property that i am in jail for, for trying to retrieve it. it was my property. i would never steal from anybody and i would never, ever pull a weapon on anybody. >> the property was yours? >> o.j.: it's been ruled illegally by the state of california that it was my property and they have given it to me. >> that's why you went into the hotel room? is that right? >> o.j.: when riccio was calling me telling me this, i wasn't interested. it wasn't until he got actual pictures of what they supposedly had a because it was family photos and stuff, that's when i

was interested in going there and i only went to retrieve my own property. >> what were you thinking when the guns were being brandished? >> o.j.: i didn't see the guns. you say guns, as i understand it, one guy behind me somewhere pointed a gun at him. i never saw him brandished a gu gun. i left, i called back to the room to ask bruce, you said there were some pictures and i asked him if walt alexander returned his cell phone. he described who was pointing a gun at him. to be honest, i didn't really believe him at the time. the three guys i was with said they didn't see him do it. i got back to my hotel, we waited for the security guys to show up. of the minute drove up, i asked

walter alexander for the cell phone and he kind of through the cell phone to me. i wasn't aware until i was in the car driving back to our hotel that this guy had actually pointed a gun at me. early in the day when he was talking to me, trying to get me to let him calm. he needed to show me -- i didn't know this guy. i knew the alexander guy but i didn't know this guy. he showed me his license. i should have vetted him. i didn't really need to, i knew these guys weren't dangerous. >> your version of the offense is different a little bit from the official records.

moving forward. considering the fact that what we have on record, weapons were brandished, you were there, property was taken. >> o.j.: i was there -- >> the question is, what do you think was the impact on your victims? >> o.j.: i know what the impact was, we have talked about it. mr. beardsley, we had long talks back then. he told me that he had tried to call my lawyer, testified in court. he called my lawyers and tried to tell them in the months previous that guys had my property and they were trying to sell about my lawyers never called them back. he actually testified for me, i am sure you know, during the trial. bruce and i talked, bruce was traumatized by it. we talked it out, he knew i wouldn't have never condoned

what happened. he accepted my apology and i told him that these guys should be put in jail. i wasn't going to defend them. unfortunately, they got a get out of jail free card. nothing i can do about that. i want to point out, bruce, i knew his family. his mother was terminally ill, she was a fan, i would call her and sing to her. the night before or the night of the jury's verdict, his son actually called. he tried to give me a head up on something to do with memorabili memorabilia. he said that he and his mother were cheering for me. of this family knows i didn't wish any harm on these guys. these guys were friends of mine and i'd like to think we were friends again. >> thank you.

>> good morning, mr. simpson. i conducted your last hearing in 2013. do you recall that hearing? >> o.j.: yes i do. >> at the time, we asked you what your plan would be if we were to grant you to your sentence and you said you were going to do a complete commitment to change. have you done that? >> o.j.: i took two courses, i guess you guys don't give much credit to, called alternative to violence. i think it's the most important of course anybody in this prison can take, it teaches you how to deal with conflict through conversation. i've been asked many, many times to mediate conflict between individuals and groups. it gave me so many tools on how to use it, to try to walk these

guys through, not pulling punches. also at one point, a couple of guys came to me and said "o.j., i understand you are a baptist. we are baptist and we have no baptist service here, can you help us get a baptist service here?" we now have an ongoing baptist service that was well attended, i attended religiously. i realized in my nine years here, i was good at guy. i could have been a better christian and my commitment to change would be to be a better christian. >> thank you. we do know you have completed alternative to violence, both basic and advanced and computer applications. i would like you to tell us a little bit more to the alternative to violence and how it will benefit you in the

future. >> o.j.: the alternative to violence course, i always thought i did pretty good with people. i basically spent a conflict free life. i never got into fights on the street with the public and everybody. as i said, they give you a bunch of little tools on how to talk to people. instead of fighting, instead of throwing punches. it's how you talk to people, the tone that you use. victim empathy was once again, i didn't really see in this case, i didn't really see that alfred beardsley was really affected by it all but bruce was affected. bruce, i saw he was affected and as i said, i would've done anything not to have that happen. if for no other reason, i regret

this because he had to have this guy pointed a gun at him. he told me the guy put a gun to his face. i said in the beginning, i didn't believe it but i know it to be a fact now. that empathy course, it pretty much tells the guys who is all there, talk to your victim, what would you say to them if you were to see them now? take responsibility for what you did and recognize how it affected their lives. bruce expressed to me how it affected him and as i told him, i could not be more apologetic. >> thank you. i know that alcohol factored in the incident, have you address this issue as you stated you would? >> o.j.: i think i made it

clear back then, i've never had an alcohol problem. if i took that alcohol course, it would have been for my children encase they ended up having a problem. my kids don't have a problem, i don't think anybody has ever accused me of having an alcohol problem or any kind of substance problem. of course on that day, i had drinks on that day. it was a wedding celebration. i've never had a substance problem at all. so i didn't. >> will you tell us more -- -- >> the reason for my question, had you been drinking that day? >> o.j.: we were celebrating a wedding, i felt that the alternative to violence course and my involvement with the church, i also recently became the commissioner of the softball

league, 18 team league. my primary responsibility was rules enforcement, player support. the guys play, they argue. my job is if they get surly with one another to remove them from the game. if it goes beyond that two to the coach and get them suspended. i never got any bull from the guys, they know i did the best i can. i've been active, totally active all the years i've been here. i don't have much time to sit around and do anything. i don't know if that answers your question. >> of all of the programs you had an opportunity to complete, what do you believe is the most significant for you personally? >> o.j.: for me personally it

was the alternative to violence. i think that should be mandatory for every inmate. once again, guys get hot here. we've had our share of fights here. as i said i have been called in to try to keep guys from fighting. the fighting, there are groups. it's crazy. most of the time it is over something really, really stupid. in a basketball game somebody will say something to somebody or somebody will go over to somebody to complain about it. it's how they complained to them about it that actually initiated the conflict, the fight. for the life of me, i don't understand why that is not mandatory for everybody here. excuse me, my mind is trying to

think of other things. that's the course that i would recommend to everybody. i took a computer course here, not because i was computer illiterate but i took the course because i could never get my kids on the phone but if you text them or say something to them on the computer you can get them. i took that course so i could better communicate with my children. >> have these programs repaired you to return to the community setting? >> o.j.: i believe so. i have a lot of time, 36 birthdays with my children. i spent the 12 years leading up to this incident in vegas raising two kids in l.a. i'm sorry, in miami. with all the media stuff, that

was happening out on the street also. i was able to keep the eye on the ball, they got to the college of their choice. i ended up missing their graduation because of this. the courses that i've taken, i hope it helps me more if i run into those conflicts with my kids. i'm not a guy that has conflicts on the street, i don't expect to have any when i leave here. but i feel that i am much better prepared, more so for my commitment to being a better christian because i thought i was a good guy. i had some problems with fidelity in my life. i've always been a guy that pretty much got along with everybody. >> are you humbled by this incarceration? >> o.j.: yes, for sure. as i said, i wish it never would

have happened. i want to apologize to the people of nevada, i wish this would have never happened. there is nothing i can do about this kind of media circus going on right now but i could do something about the whole thing in the beginning. if i would've made a better judgment back then, none of this would've happened. i take full responsibility because i should have never -- i haven't made any excuses in nine years here but i should have never allowed these alleged security guys to help me because it turned out they were only trying to help themselves. if they weren't there, bruce and i, we tried to do this. we tried to sit down and call this guy mike gilbert and to discuss it all but these guys took over and we were unable to do that. if we were able to do that, you

never would have heard about this and none of us would be here today. >> lastly, i would like you to know that we received hundreds of letters of support and opposition and while we always encourage public input, the majority of the opposition letters are asking us consider your 1995 acquittal. however, these letters will not be considered. >> o.j.: thank you. >> mr. simpson, when we grant offenders parole, one of the conditions we will impose is to pay court ordered restitution to the victims of the crime. according to the judge, you and your codefendants were ordered to pay restitution and return the anorexic property to the v. >> o.j.: i was on aware of the

restitution. i do know about the prints. when i was talking to bruce on the phone and asking him if there was anything else that should be yours, he said the cell phone. i asked if he was going to meet us or how he wanted to do it. a mr. cashmore, a guy i didn't know said he had to go by the hotel and he would drop it off. he testified to this, this is a not an allegation for me, he testified to it. his testimony later was that he didn't remember the name of who he was supposed to drop it off to.

they had decided to screw o.j., we are going to keep this stuff. this is his testimony in court. the last thing i heard is he actually tried to use those prints as -- he was trying to use it, i can't think of the word. >> restitution. >> o.j.: the last i know of these lithographs is that he had of them and he testified to the fact in court that he had them. >> the restitution was paid. >> the restitution has been pai paid. the property has been returned, the lithographs as well. >> o.j.: i have no idea what this guy -- he said they have

been returned to him. >> thank you. >> o.j.: thank you. >> if granted parole as opposed to completing your sentence in prison, you will be under supervision in the community. why is it better to be in the community then in the prison? >> o.j.: i do have four kids. i have missed a lot of time with those kids. i think i am a guy who has always been a giving guy. even on the street. people have always come to me, my reputation has always been that i am open to the public, open to everybody. right now i am at a point in my life where i want to do is spend as much time as i cam with my children and my friends, i am not looking to be involved with the media.

i've had so many offers for interviews since i've been here in lovelock and i am not interested in any of that. i have done my time. i've done it as well and as respectfully as i think anybody can. i gave them my word, i honored my verdict. i have not complained for nine years, all i've done is tried to be healthful and encourage the guys around me to do their time, fight in court and don't do anything that's going to extend their time. that's the life i've tried to live because i want to get back to my family. >> do you realize it if you are granted parole, you could be returned to prison for any violation of the conditions of parole? >> o.j.: yes, sir. >> not drinking alcohol to excess, associating with

ex-felons, leaving the state without permission, being subject to search and seizure. there will be a whole slew of conditions you are going to have to follow. do you think you can be successful with the terms of parole? >> o.j.: beyond a doubt, i haven't drank in nine years. most of my life, i could be stopped and searched whenever, i am not a guy who lived a criminal life. i am a straight shooter. i've always tried to be a good soldier. i have no problem. none whatsoever. >> here is the other side of that. as an easily recognized person in the community, if you are granted parole, how will you handle public scrutiny in the community? >> o.j.: i've been recognized ever since i was 19 years old. i'm sure bruce would tell you, wherever we've been, it's always

a crowd. that's not new to me. rarely have i even -- even in the last 20 years, rarely have i had a person give me any negative stuff in the street. i am pretty easily approachable. i've dealt with it, i haven't had any problem dealing with the public now. at all. >> since we've been made aware that you are requesting to live in florida, died i've asked soe to explain the process. he is the interstate contact commissioner for the state of nevada. i'm going to ask him to come forward. these are things that happen

behind the scenes with any hearing we would have. because we have a crowd of people asking questions, we thought it was best to have him present to explain it to everyone. >> o.j.: thank you. i could easily say to nevada, i don't think you guys want me here. >> no comment, sir. >> as chairman, this will be shared with you. i am a captain with the division of parole probation headquarters and i also serve as the commissioner for nevada for the interstate contact. when it comes to the interstate contact, the things that are looked at is what is your support system in that other state, are you a resident of the other state as defined by the

contact meeting that you were living there for at least a year prior to the date you committed the offense, or do you have resident family there that can serve as your support system. resident family is fairly specific but adult siblings and adult children can serve as your resident family sponsor to provide you with that tie to the other state that would allow you to qualify for a transfer. that's just the first part of it. first we have to establish what your support system is and whether or not you qualify for that transfer. then we make the determination of if it's your best interest to request that transfer for you. once we make that decision, there is an offender application for transfer which includes a waiver of extradition, which is required to be signed before anyone is allowed to submit a request for transfer to another state. what that does is it outlines to

you with the requirements of the contact are, that you are subject to terms and conditions not only by the sending state but also by the receiving state if you were looking to join your family in florida. florida would be able to impose conditions on you that would be consistent in the same manner that they would treat one of their own offenders in a like circumstance. once that offender application for transfer would be a waiver of extradition, a waiver of extradition serves the purpose that if, for some reason, you violate the terms and conditions of your supervision, you understand nevada has the authority to answer for those violations. once we obtain that signed offender application, we will process that along with the other paperwork and documents that we need to submit to the other state. they will have up to 40 4045 ds

to conduct their investigation on whether or not you qualify for the transfer and whether or not you have a supervision. once they determine that, their caseworkers will forward that through their contact office back to the nevada contact office and once we have a decision by that other state, that will be provided to you through your case manager at the department of corrections. that's how the interstate contact part works. on the prerelease side, the prerelease specialists work closely with the caseworkers at the nevada department of corrections. they help to develop a plan of supervision. what is your plan of release, where do you want to go to, who is your support system. once they make that determination, they process the information. in this case, if you were to apply for interstate contact,

our prerelease specialists would be they want to forward those to the other state for their consideration. once it determination was made, they would work with your caseworker to set up your release and your caseworker would manage the release through the nevada department of corrections. >> does the panel have any further questions? >> thank you. >> i'm going to defer to the two of you, you and mr. simpson. we like mr. simpson to tell us anything he'd like to tell us, we'd also like to hear from one of the supporters of one of them wishes to make a brief statement and we would also like to hear your statement. i'm going to put that back to you.

>> we are going to hear from mr. simpson's daughter first and then i will make some closing remarks. >> officer, make that switch for us, please. >> thank you. >> hello. >> good morning. if you will give us the record and your relationship to mr. simpson? >> i am arnelle simpson, my dad's oldest child. >> welcome, feel free to speak. >> thank you. i'm a little nervous so bear with me. >> so are we.

>> as you know i am here on behalf of my family. for the purpose of expressing what we believe is the true character of my father. no one really knows how much we have been through. this ordeal in the last nine years. excuse me. my experience with him is that he is my best friend and my roc rock. as a family, we recognize that he is not the perfect man but he is clearly manned and a father who has done his best to behave in a way that speaks to his

overall nature and character, which is always to be positive no matter what. he has spent the last nine years in lovelock as we all know and has been a perfect inmate, following all the rules and making the best of the situatio situation. which is truly amazing to me under the circumstances. the choice that he made nine years ago that resulted in this were clearly inappropriate and wrong and counterproductive. to what he was trying to achieve. as a family, we were all there to celebrate a wedding. of a very good friend. i can honestly say, my data recognizes that he took the wrong approach. i could not handle the situation, he could have handled the situation differently. my siblings and i and family

know that he didn't make the right decision on that day but we know his intentions were not to go in and to make the wrong decision at the wrong time. throughout this ordeal we have remained close. we have stayed strong. i for myself am grateful for go god. for giving us the strength to get through this last nine years and to stay positive always no matter what. a lot of that is because of him. on behalf of my family, my brothers, my sister, aunt, uncle, his friends. we just want him to come home.

we really do, we want him to come home and i know in my heart that he is very humbled throughout the situation. this has been hard, i'm going to be honest. this has been really, truly hard. there is no right or wrong way to explain how to handle this. but we do know that -- i know that he is remorseful. he truly is remorseful and we just want him to come home so that we can move forward for us. quietly. but to move forward. i thank you for allowing me to be here this morning, thank you. >> thank you, we appreciate you being present and we appreciate your comments.

>> this would be the time for you and mr. simpson to make any closing remarks that you would like to make. >> do you have a copy of the i provided through your liaison? it's an undated letter, that should have been provided to yo you. give me two seconds to get up st up here, that is where i'm going to start. did you take that letter?

the letter as you can see is very short. i think it is appropriate to read into the record if the commissioners would allow me to. >> that would be fine. >> the first thing i have to do is find it. here it is. by way of setting this letter up, the most important part about this letter is that this was not a letter that mr. simpson provided to me. what happened is, mr. simpson at some point wanted me to communicate with an individual, he is an assembly man now and an attorney and in the interest of full disclosure, he was one of mr. simpson's attorneys during the haiti esprit seating's related to the case. since that time, he is a friend of mine, too. he became an assembly man with the nevada legislature.

after that mr. simpson sent him a letter and i found out about that letter, not through mr. simpson, but through ozzie fumo. mr. simpson did authenticate this letter this morning. he indicated that he was the one who wrote this letter and even though it is not dated, he indicated it was probably sent to ozzie within the last five months or so. "dear legislator fumo. i was not surprised to hear about your interest in furthering the education and helping prison inmates. i must admit, i have always taken my exposure to education for granted, partly due to my

prowess as an athlete. i have always been afforded opportunities for higher education. it wasn't until i got to prison that i realized how many people did not have the exposure to set education. in part because of their circumstances, gangs, bad neighborhoods, lack of parental supervision, poverty, et cetera. but ozzie, i can't tell you how inspiring it is that inmates have taken advantage of the educational department. i have seen a change in some inmates as far as our self esteem goes that is amazing. it comes to me to talk to subjects that they would never have even thought about before their exposure to education. they talk to me about things they want to do when they are released, things they never would have thought about that they were capable of before. they say "you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

and as an old dog, i can tell you that is not true. i am taking a computer science course -- a computer course that has shown me that even i am capable of learning new skills. of these new skills will help me better communicate with my children. who knows, you may even see a webcast or blog in my future. i work in the athletic department here at lovelock and i fully enjoy what i do and can tell you that this is very important for the inmates to have a release for their energy and recreation. but i can think of no better place to use state funds than to educate, add to their self-esteem and prepare these guys for their eventual release. in closing, i want to tell you how much i look forward to following your political career and your participation in what i know will be a very successful prison educational program. gratefully yours, orenthal jay simpson." and it is signed by mr. simpson.

the reason i wanted to read this to you is -- and just surprise mr. simpson with that is because obviously this is mr. simpson's what i would consider one of his first opportunities to have clout in the political system of the state of nevada. he pretty much as an end at that point. they had an attorney-client relationship and now ozzie is in the assembly, he is in a position of power. what does mr. simpson do? does he say ozzie, can i have a better bad? ozzie, can you pull some strings and get me out of your earlier? he doesn't do any of that. he uses that cloud, the one time he has some clout in the state of nevada, he uses that clout to request funding for books and education in this prison. mr. simpson said some of those men are going to get out and

they are going to have a decent and better life as a result of mr. simpson's efforts through mr. fumo. i think that is the definition of character and frankly, if it was me personally who had been imprisoned for nine years and frankly, forget nine years, nine days. if i had that opportunity and someone in a position of power who could do something for me like this, i would say get me out of jail. he doesn't do that. it is very selfless, he is thinking about the people here and also the definition -- humbled in humility, it shows a humility to think of people here who are not as empowered and not as privileged as he has been and when he gets out probably will continue to be in society. that's the first part of my closing remarks. the second part of my closing remarks deal with the other

individual that was a victim, he is not here. and that is mr. beardsley. he passed away in november of 2015. mr. beardsley and mr. fromong have made calls to my office and the last time i recall speaking to mr. beardsley was in september of 2011. this was not long after i have been representing for mr. simpson for a couple of years, i was a little uncomfortable that beardsley, who was a victim, was calling me. i explained to him that i wanted to avoid the conversation and he consented and i asked him if he wanted and he was fine. i bring up this conversation because as i stated before, since he is no longer here i think i can speak for someone

who is speaking for the dead. he he had indicated that he had cleared up this matter with mr. simpson. he was trying his hardest to do whatever he wanted to get mr. simpson out of prison. he had just -- they had just made it right. mr. simpson had apologized to him. and they had just basically made it right. and he was very very -- he sent letters to mr. simpson. mr. simpson had responded. that was probably on the advice of counsel at the time. and then also there was another issue of, and mr. simpson has raised this issue, and i want to emphasize this again. that mr. beardsly had a set of photos. these are not memorabilia. mr. simpson, if he didn't make his point already, he could care less about some signed football or some signed photos. he could care less about them. he could rip them up and burn them up. they mean a lot