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Nov. 09, 2007
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Curious turn out for the free show

Spectators start lining up at court at 7 a.m.

By HENRY BREAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL
OJ Simpson
O.J. Simpson
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Dressed in a gray suit, white shirt and matching striped tie, O.J. Simpson, third from the right, arrives Thursday at the Clark County Regional Justice Center for his preliminary hearing.
Photos by Clint Karlsen.



Joe Pepitone, 67, of Las Vegas passes police on his way Thursday to the Regional Justice Center. Pepitone used O.J. Simpson's preliminary hearing as a forum to complain that he was cheated out of a jackpot.

Fred Conrad and John Miller traveled to Las Vegas to play some cards and take in a few shows. They saw "Defending the Caveman" one night, Rich Little the next.

Then on Thursday morning, they decided to check out the biggest production in town: the preliminary hearing for O.J. Simpson.

"I've never experienced anything like this before. I thought it would be interesting," Conrad said.

"This is the big show," Miller added. "And it's free."

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    • The neighbors from suburban Chicago were among a handful of everyday citizens who turned out to watch the hearing in person.

    The first few spectators began lining up about 7 a.m. in hopes of landing one of the few seats in the courtroom not already taken by attorneys, reporters, and relatives of the witnesses and defendants.

    Joe Cirilo was among the first to arrive. He had a few days off from his job with a local security company so he wandered down to the courthouse to check out the scene.

    "I'm nosy and curious, just like everybody else," the 74-year-old said. "If he's proven guilty, I hope justice will be served."

    Beate Falk, 71, also showed up early hoping to get a seat in the gallery.

    "I'm retired. I have all this time, so I try to do lots of exciting things," she explained.

    The native of Austria spent 40 years in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas about five years ago. She said she regrets not witnessing Simpson's murder trial. She wasn't about to miss another chance to see him in person.

    "I want to see his face. I want to see if he has the same smug face like he usually does," she said. "He should have been convicted the first time. I'm glad they got him (during the civil trial) in Santa Monica, and I hope they get him here. He's got to pay somewhere down the line."

    Tara Waters joined the group about 7:15 a.m. dressed in a T-shirt that read, "Exercise your faith, walk with God."

    As she waited for the hearing, she paged through a pocket-sized Bible filled with passages she had highlighted in bright yellow, pink and blue.

    Waters said she was there to spread God's message and encourage people to "turn their lives around for the Lord." With all the cameras around, she figured she could reach a lot of folks at once. Maybe she would even get the chance to talk with Simpson.

    "If I had that opportunity, I would, just to see where his head is at," she said.

    Conrad and Miller were relatively late to Thursday's party.

    They showed up at about 9 a.m. not expecting to be able to get anywhere close to the courtroom. Instead they found only five other people in line ahead of them.

    Asked what they thought about the case against Simpson, Miller and Conrad started to riff.

    "We kind of think he should be guilty just out of sheer stupidity," Miller said.

    "But that's an insult to stupid," Conrad replied.

    Seth Willing walked over to the Regional Justice Center from his room at a weekly motel with no expectation that he would get to sit in on Thursday's hearing.

    He decided to hang around once he saw he was one of the only members of the public waiting to get in. He chomped sunflower seeds and spit the shells in an empty water bottle to pass the time.

    Willing said he moved to Las Vegas from Seattle last week in search of work as something called a "brand ambassador." The job basically entails going to public events and plugging products by handing out samples and promotional materials. Sometimes costumes and stunts are involved.

    Willing insisted he did not come to the courthouse to promote anything. He just considers Simpson an interesting individual.

    During his freshman year of high school in Texas, Willing was let out of biology class early so he and his classmates could watch the verdict in Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He has been following Simpson's exploits ever since.

    "I want to see him face to face. I just want to look into his eyes, see what kind of person he is," he said.

    For a while, it looked like there would be plenty of seats to go around, but a surge of interested spectators showed up just before the hearing was set to begin. A court staff member had to draw raffle tickets out of a box to determine who would get the 15 seats available.

    Willing's ticket was one of the first to be drawn, but he had stepped away and didn't hear his number being called.

    When his ticket was tossed back in the box and drawn again a few minutes later, Conrad shook his head and said, "That guy ought to buy a lottery ticket."

    By the time the drawing was over, though, Cirilo, Falk, Waters, Conrad and Miller had all been picked to go inside.

    Not everyone was so lucky. One man who had his number called ended up being escorted out of the justice center when a bailiff found a pair of two-inch sewing scissors in his pocket. Another man was turned away because of a courtroom dress code that prohibits shorts.

    Though they were happy to be picked, Miller and Conrad said they only planned to watch the O.J. show for an hour or two.

    "He's not that fascinating to keep us away from the tables," Miller explained. "We've got to go lose some more money."

    Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350.



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    Alyce wrote on November 28, 2007 02:43 PM: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING


    Coach wrote on November 28, 2007 11:40 AM: This whole things sound silly, all were going to see is how incompetent the Las Vegas D.A. is. If the justice system used as much energy to prosecute actual criminals, as they do to harrass this guy, we would all be better off. Its embarrassing to see how vengeful and vendictive we have become, its like it doesn't matter if were right or wrong, just get OJ because the ends justify the means. Lets try to do something about the war on terrorism and stop wasting time like I'm doing right now.


    Rose wrote on November 15, 2007 11:14 AM: Yes, that's right. The color of his skin made him break into a las Vegas hotel room to steal things that may or may not have been his. yes, I say 'steal' because possesion is a very large part of the law. If they have it, and you think it's yours, you need to call the police or sue. If some white guy had done it, people would be screaming for his head and asking why he wasn't in jail yet.


    chris forrester wrote on November 14, 2007 05:52 PM: This trial shows how to make mockery of our judicial system and make money at the same time. All these individuals were intented to help themselves and did not give a hoot about OJ. OJ got sucker punched and he deserved it. You lie with dogs, you will rise with fleas. Everyone of those individuals have got other motives for being involved and they preplanned it. My only concern is; the proscecutor have not established who owns the memorabelias, and this will help OJ if he is convicted and file an appeal. I am a law abiding citizen and does not condones what has occurred, but this case has lots of rotten fish, I can smell them. As a little boy growing up, my grandmother taught me, son, count the fingers on one hand of the number of friends i've got, OJ got too many. Yesterday was yesterday, today is today, I'd wish he had burn those memorabilias years ago. Never kick a man when he is down, he might get up. (blind man said that)


    Marcie wrote on November 14, 2007 11:55 AM: I assumed that OJ Simpson was guilty when he was accused of killing his wife and Ron Goldman. Now I'm not so sure. I believe now, that he is assumed guilty, for one reason only. He is black. Black in the United States means guilty. Did the police even try to investigate the case and see if there was someone else who could have killed those two people?


    Mivhael Oates wrote on November 14, 2007 08:54 AM: On the TV news it looked like Marcia Clark was in the audience, for what.

    OJ IS being tried for the murders again.


    E Lee wrote on November 14, 2007 06:56 AM: I can not believe that this justice system in the U.S. promotes indistinguishable liability. What that means is the justice system finds you guilty but the public opinions draws idealism and it is prostituted and promoted back in court and in the media. Where does innocent until proven guilty, furthermore; when proven innocent then you are not guilty and it is not fair or good practice to utilize double jeopardy in a court case. For those of you who are so smart, let me ask you a question? If you were at the alter of death and your mate, friend, accomplice was beside you; at the point your associate was being mutilated, you would stand there and wait your turn, not being tied up, tied down, constrained or restrained? I guess you were standing there jumping up and down yelling I'm next, I'mt next! Let's not make it a white and black issue, but a personable issue, does it make sense, does it? Before passing judgement think of some of the ideas you communicated and later, and later after a failed attempt, look back and say that was not the smartest idea I ever had or it did not go the way I had planned; no malicious intent.


    sigh wrote on November 09, 2007 05:04 PM: I guess they were too busy to arrest the naked guy walking around yesterday.


    JJ wrote on November 09, 2007 12:17 PM: Must be nice to not have a life.


    jerry wayne wrote on November 09, 2007 07:22 AM: the fact that people even care about this... is disturbing.