OJ Simpson Faces a Possible Sentence of Life In Prison

The latest chapter of O.J. Simpson's legal travails comes to a close Friday when he is sentenced for leading a ragtag band of hangers-on in the robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a cramped Las Vegas hotel room.Simpson, 61, faces a possible sentence of life in prison after his conviction Oct. 3 of kidnapping and armed robbery, among other charges. The Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Hall of Fame running back is being held at the Clark County Detention Center.

His only "contact visits" have been with defense attorneys Yale Galanter and Gabriel Grasso, who are planning to appeal."He's a very resilient guy," Galanter said Thursday. "He's handling this fairly well. He's hopeful. He believes in the criminal justice system. He believes he'll be exonerated."

Galanter has said that the jury convicted Simpson because of his 1995 acquittal in the double-murder trial of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman—not because of what unfolded in the Palace Station hotel."O.J. comes into court with a lot of baggage," Galanter said. "Even though he was acquitted in the mid-'90s, the public perception is that he did it." A civil jury found Simpson liable for the deaths in 1997.Galanter said he didn't know whether Simpson would speak at the sentencing hearing, at which victims Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley are expected to testify.