*68% of Americans believe that famous celebrities do receive special treatment when they get arrested.
The list of Arrested Celebrities is quite impressive indeed and continues to grow at a steady pace.
Last week in Las Vegas, O.J. Simpson was arrested and charged with 10 Felony counts including charges involving the use of a deadly weapon.
O.J. Simpson gained worldwide attention in 1995 when he attempted to escape authorities by leading them on a slow-speed chase through the city of Los Angeles.
He was arrested and tried for murder. The jury acquitted him in the deaths of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Later, he was found liable for their deaths in civil court.
Now, facing 10 felony counts and a possible kidnapping charge, Simpson is once-again in public scrutiny. He was freed in Vegas on $125,000 Bail.
“It’s chump change” emailed one Arrested visitor. “The average person who gets arrested for what O.J. did in Vegas would have to pay 3 times OJ’s bail to get out of jail!. I think his bail should have been more like a million dollars. That might teach him a lesson!”
Can Bail be set to teach someone a lesson? Did O.J.’s Celebrity status play a factor in determining what some say is “chump change”?
To find out if OJ got a fair deal, and if his celebrity power had any affect on the bail amount, we went to the professionals.
Topo Padilla and his father Greg own and operate Greg Padilla Bail Bonds. A very successful full-service bail bond business located in Sacramento, California.
Topo says bail is set by a “bail schedule”. Court Judges use the bail schedule to determine how much to set bail.
Celebrity status is not a consideration in this equation.
The 8th Amendment says: Bail shall not be excessive. Bail rates are set for each crime in the penal code.
Padilla says. “$125,000 is a high bail for the charges OJ faces, but certainly appropriate.”
“If the additional kidnapping charge is intact, there is a life sentence that comes with that.”
Bail is like an insurance policy. The bail agent assumes a certain amount of risk. If someone bonded fails to show up in court, thousands of dollars can be lost by the bail agent.
Does the bail bond company in Las Vegas, who posted bail for OJ Simpson, need to be concerned that OJ is a flight risk?
“If I was to get the call to bail him of jail“, said Padilla. “I wouldn't jump right on it because he is O.J. Simpson.”
“I would secure it just as I would any other bond. In the sense that if he did run, he would not be hard to find. Sooner or later we will catch up with him.”
Are we going to see another dream team of powerful legal professionals seeking only to gain notoriety for defending OJ?
“You know, I think it's interesting!” Padilla said. “I don't think too many people are going to jump up and do what they did the last time… put together a huge defense team. Yes, he was found innocent… but a great majority of society finds him guilty.”
Back in 1995, there were no witnesses to the Simpson - Goldman murders. Simpson’s attorneys used DNA evidence to get his acquittal.
However, this time things are different. Simpson was caught on tape.
Can audio recordings of an angry OJ Simpson, raiding a Vegas hotel room, end up to be the evidence that finally puts the former NFL star in prison for life? Maybe not.
“I've heard that those audio recordings have been spliced
and cut. There is going to be some issue with that.” Said Topo Padilla.
“As a Citizen, knowing that a crime was allegedly committed; yes, there's some possibility of a set up. It is not a slam dunk case.”
Does this mean OJ was set up?
“Being in the bail bond business we don't get into the
merits of a case, so I would tend to stay away from
answering that question. As a guy watching the press and
watching everything that goes on with O.J, there seems to be a lack of integrity.”
DNA played a major role in OJ’s “trial of the Century!” But this time, OJ appears to have had accomplices with him, and those individuals might end up testifying as witnesses for the prosecution .
As Topo says, “The rest is up to the courts and the attorneys”.
The way I see it, this time the only preferential treatment OJ is receiving is extensive media coverage.
