The Latest: Simpson in denim jacket, jeans in prison release - The Republic

LAS VEGAS — The Latest on the release from prison of former football legend O.J. Simpson (all times local):

1:50 p.m.

Florida’s attorney general says her state may have to oversee O.J. Simpson’s parole if his prison record in Nevada is clean.

Simpson has said he wants to move back to Florida.

Though she doesn’t control the Corrections Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday urged the department to reject any request to transfer Simpson’s parole, citing factors including his history of violence and destructive behavior.

Bondi acknowledged Sunday that Florida may have no choice but to accept Simpson. She says authorities would carefully vet the request and his prison records. Corrections officials would have 45 days, though Bondi said a decision likely would come much sooner.

Bondi says potential sticking points include whether Simpson completed required alcohol counseling.

Bondi says the Nevada prison system had told Florida officials Simpson would be released no sooner than Monday.

She says Nevada officials as of Sunday afternoon they had not yet made any request for a parole transfer.

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10:40 a.m.

The family of the man slain with Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994 knew that O.J. Simpson would be released on parole but says his actual release “is still difficult for us knowing he will be a free man again.”

Fred and Kim Goldman released a statement Sunday through spokesman Michael Wright saying they respect the Nevada Parole Board’s decision to release Simpson after nine years in prison for his conviction in a Las Vegas armed robbery case.

They also say they’ll continue to pursue payment of $33.5 million judgment awarded in 1997 after Simpson was found civilly liable for the death and will keep advocating for domestic violence awareness, victim advocacy and judicial reform.

Simpson is now 70. He maintains the botched hotel-room confrontation that sent him to prison in Nevada was an effort to retrieve memorabilia stolen from him after he was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles.

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9:50 a.m.

Florida’s Corrections Department says it has not received a request to oversee O.J. Simpson’s parole in Florida, where the former football star has said he wants to live.

The department “has not received any transfer paperwork from Nevada,” Corrections department spokeswoman Ashley Cook said Sunday after Simpson was released on parole from a Nevada prison after serving nine years for a robbery conviction.

Simpson lawyer Attorney Malcolm LaVergne has said Simpson will go to Florida, where he previously has lived. The former football star’s friend Tom Scotto from Naples, Florida said Sunday he was with Simpson following his release. Sotto did not say where they were.

Florida’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, has urged her state’s Corrections Department to object to Simpson’s return.

Bondi cited what she called Simpson’s history of violence and destructive behavior.

The department previously has said it would have to accept a transfer from Nevada if that state’s request met certain criteria under an interstate agreement.

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9:30 a.m.

Now that O.J. Simpson is out of prison, he has to comply with rules Nevada authorities set for his parole.

He has to tell the state where he’ll be living and when he changes his residence. He can’t use illegal drugs or recreational marijuana.

He can drink alcohol, but not beyond Nevada’s limit for driving and not being arrested for drunk driving.

Simpson also is prohibited from associating with felons or anyone that Nevada parole and probation officials prohibit him from being in contact with.

The conditions apply no matter where Simpson ends up living.

The state he chooses will set rules that he must follow to avoid the risk of being returned to prison. Simpson could be on parole until Sept. 29, 2022. That five-year period could be reduced if Simpson collects maximum credits for good behavior, pays fees and fines on time and shows “diligence in labor or study.”

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4:50 a.m.

Footage released by a Nevada prisons official shows O.J. Simpson sporting a ball cap, blue denim jacket, jeans and white tennis shoes as he regained his freedom.

State prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast told The Associated Press Simpson was released at 12:08 a.m. PDT from Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada. He had served nine years for a botched Las Vegas hotel room heist.

Keast says she did not have any information about where Simpson was headed. She watched Simpson sign paperwork shortly before being freed. Photographs released by Keast showed Simpson seated at a table and signing documents as others watched.

The brief video released on social media shows Simpson being told to “come on out” by a prison staffer.

He responded “OK” as he left through an open door, wearing a ball cap, denim jacket, jeans and white tennis shoes. The footage then showed a nighttime scene of a darkened street apparently outside the prison.

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3 a.m.

O.J. Simpson’s friend from Naples, Florida, Tom Scotto, says he was with the former football great after he was freed from a remote Nevada prison.

Scotto said in brief text messages early Sunday to The Associated Press that he was there but couldn’t talk.

Scotto didn’t say where they were going or whether Simpson’s sister, Shirley Baker of Sacramento, California, or his daughter, Arnelle Simpson of Fresno, California, were with him.

The three attended Simpson’s parole hearing in July at Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada.

That’s the same prison where Keast says Simpson was released at 12:08 a.m. PDT Sunday.

Simpson’s living arrangements outside prison have not been made public.

He has said he wanted to move back to Florida, where he lived before his armed robbery conviction in Las Vegas in a September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers.

But Florida prison officials said documents weren’t filed, and the state attorney general says she doesn’t want Simpson to live in the state.

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2 a.m.

Nevada state prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast says she witnessed former football great O.J. Simpson being freed in a dead-of-night prison release, adding the hour was chosen to avoid media attention.

Keast told The Associated Press early Sunday that she witnessed Simpson signing documents shortly before he gained freedom, adding the release was conducted minutes after midnight in Nevada. She says a driver met Simpson at the prison but she doesn’t know who it was and had no information where he was headed.

Neither Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne in Las Vegas, nor state Parole and Probation Capt. Shawn Arruti — who has been handling Simpson’s case — immediately responded to messages for comment early Sunday.

Lavergne said recently that Simpson was looking forward to reuniting with his family.

The 70-year-old Simpson gains his freedom after being granted parole at a hearing in July. Unlike the last time he went free, 22 years ago, he will face restrictions — up to five years of parole supervision.

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1 a.m.

Former football legend O.J. Simpson became a free man again Sunday after serving nine years for a botched hotel-room heist in Las Vegas that brought the conviction and prison time he avoided in the killings of his wife and her friend after his 1995 acquittal.

Nevada state prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast told The Associated Press that Simpson was released at 12:08 a.m. PDT from Lovelock Correctional Center in northern Nevada. She says she didn’t know who met Simpson and didn’t have any information on where Simpson was headed.

“I don’t have any information on where he’s going,” Keast told AP by phone.

Keast says the dead-of-night release from the prison about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Reno, Nevada, was conducted to avoid media attention. “We needed to do this to ensure public safety and to avoid any possible incident,” Keast said by phone.

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12:40 a.m.

A Nevada prison official says O.J. Simpson, the former football legend and Hollywood star, has been released from a Nevada prison in Lovelock after serving nine years for armed robbery.

Unlike when he walked free after his murder trial in 1995, Simpson faces parole supervision for another five years.

Nevada state prisons spokeswoman Brooke Keast told The Associated Press Simpson was released early Sunday.

The 70-year-old Simpson told the parole board that he wanted to live in Florida. The Florida Department of Corrections said officials had not received a transfer request or required documents.

Simpson was sent to prison in Nevada for a botched hotel-room heist of sports memorabilia 12 years after he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman in Los Angeles.

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