"The main thing I have learned is you can't walk into a courtroom without competent legal representation," Simpson said in a telephone interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.
But some feel a referral from Simpson will carry dubious weight.
"The message is not bad, but people may have problems with the messenger," said Laurie Levenson, dean of Loyola University Law School.
Simpson said the idea of doing commercials for Justice Media, a lawyer referral service, came from a friend he would not identify. He said the money he was paid "just covered my expenses."
Justice Media plans to sell the commercials to law firms across the country.
Stephen Jackson, a lawyer for the referral service, told USA Today that the ad campaign will be aimed at the minority community and that they believe Simpson will be an attractive spokesman.
Simpson, the football Hall of Famer and Hertz spokesman, said he was grateful he had the money to hire the best lawyers in the business for his 1994 criminal trial.
He was acquitted on charges of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Simpson was found liable for the deaths of Ms. Simpson and Goldman in a subsequent civil trial and was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.
Any income he receives can be seized by the estate of Ms. Simpson and the Goldman family to satisfy the judgment.
Asked if he has any new evidence that might help convince the public of his innocence, he said, "I'm working on it."
COPYRIGHT ASSOCIATED PRESS
LINDA DEUTSCH
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DO WE NEED A COURT ORDER FOR THE EXHUMATION?
Recently, a woman was stopped by an Amarillo City Policeman for pushing her luck on a red light. The officer was very cordial and told her to be more careful in the future and that, this time, he would only issue her a warning. He went back to his vehicle and returned with her warning for the red light but, with a sudden change in mood, advised her that there was a warrant for her arrest and inquired as to whether she had been in trouble with the law recently. The officer gave her the option of going to jail to be booked or appearing in Municipal Court first thing the next morning.
She arrived at court still not knowing the foundation for the warrant and appeared before the Judge. The warrant was issued for failure to appear. A summons had been sent to her but she had never seen it because the issuing address was wrong. She finally learned that her crime was failing to sterilize a cat she had gotten from the Humane Society within the 6-month period following adoption. About a year prior, she and her daughter went to the Humane Society and paid the $40.00 fee for a cat and took it back home to their farm. After explaining to the judge that the cat had died in the first 3 months from eating a mouse that had ingested rat poisoning, she was informed that the contract with the Humane Society contained a clause that required her to notify them in writing of any reason that would prohibit her from sterilizing the cat in compliance with the contract. The judge was not swayed by her argument, tendered her the paperwork to plead "not guilty" and set the case for trial.
Even though there are murders, rapists and drug dealers running loose in our society, there is still room in our vast criminal justice system for prosecution of people for the ultimate crime: "failure to sterilize a dead cat."
Submitted by Inda Crawford
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WHOSE LAND IS IT ANYWAY?
A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down.
After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply (actual letter):
"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."
Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows (actual letter):
"Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the U. S. from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U. S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the then reigning monarch, Isabella. The good queen, being a pious woman and careful about titles, almost as much as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to fund Columbus' expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that He also made that part of the world called Louisiana. He, therefore, would be the owner of origin. I hope ... you find His original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our ... loan?"
(They got it).
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