O.J. Simpson’s parole hearing date was announced Tuesday and has been set for July 20.
The 69-year-old Hall of Famer has served nine of the 33 years he was sentenced to for an armed robbery in Las Vegas in 2008, according to ABC News. He remains behind bars at Lovelock Correctional Center, near Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was sent 13 years to the date after he was acquitted in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. (RELATED: REPORT: O.J. Simpson Wants To Date Kris Jenner When He Gets Out Of Prison)
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He was denied parole in July 2013.
On Good Morning America Tuesday, Simpson’s friend Tom Scotto said Simpson’s looking forward to getting out and spending time with his kids.
“He wants to keep a low profile,” Scotto explained. “Be with his kid, be with his family, play golf is one of his main things.”
“He’s hopeful he’s not going to try to retry the case,” he added. “He’s done a lot of positive things in prison.”
In a recent interview, Clark County’s chief deputy public defender Steven Yeager said that due to his age and good behavior, Simpson’s chances of getting parole were high.
“Typically, when the parole board is making that determination, they are looking at the inmate’s history in the institution, the disciplinary history,” Yeager explained. “They also look at the age of the inmate and one of the things we always talk about in the criminal justice system is the older you get, the less likely you are to continue committing crimes.”
If he gets parole, he would be released in October.
Yeager said despite Simpson’s age and good behavior, his murder trial could affect his chances of getting parole due to “politics and public perception.”
“But certainly, that [politics and public perception] is always a consideration that comes in to play,” Yeager responded. “Probably what makes that a little more complicated here is the fact that he was, of course, found not guilty of those crimes. But there is a widely held belief in our country that he did commit those crimes.”
