# OJ - what kind of jail time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434 "2008-10-04T11:10:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/1 "2008-10-04T11:10:15Z")
So OJ is finally found guilty of something. What length of sentence can he expect? Some press reports say he is facing life, but is that mandatory or just the maximum possible? If the latter how likely is a life sentence in this case? Also, what kind of prison regime is he likely to encounter? In the UK we sometimes see stuff on TV about US prisons, but they tend to concentrate on the sensationalist extreme high security, mass murderers on every landing type of stuff. Presumably, despite the seriousness of the crimes, OJ at 61 years old will not be considered to be that high risk. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/2 "2008-10-04T11:44:39Z")
IANAJudge, but as far as I can tell, kidnap gets you [32 points and using a gun gets you 2](http://www.ussc.gov/2002suppb/2a4_1.htm). According to [this](http://www.ussc.gov/2005guid/5a.htm) 34 points = 151-188 years (at least I assume they are years). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/3 "2008-10-04T12:16:23Z")
Hard. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/4 "2008-10-04T12:17:59Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > …(at least I assume they are years). Months (see note 1) ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/5 "2008-10-04T13:22:11Z")
If the reports are correct he faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/6 "2008-10-04T14:27:03Z")
> [@Spartydog](#): > > If the reports are correct he faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years. … with the possibility of a life sentance. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/7 "2008-10-04T14:36:01Z")
He’ll do prison time, not jail. Generally, one goes to prison after being convicted of felonies carrying more than a year’s sentence. Jails are for people being held awaiting charging, bail, or conviction. Also those convicted of misdemeanors and felonies which carry less than a 12 month sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/8 "2008-10-04T22:23:05Z")
Gun crimes carry minimum sentences don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/9 "2008-10-04T23:05:36Z")
The TV news says minimum sentence is 23 years. That is a long time for a 61 year old. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/10 "2008-10-05T00:52:18Z")
As an aside, you’re MUCH better off in a decent prison than a decent jail. You’ve got a much wider variety of rights in prison, but it looks like that part of the story has already been answered. Poor OJ. Too bad they never developed a cure for stupid; he literally got away with murder, and that experience wasn’t enough to scare him straight. That’s a heck of a failure to learn the lesson. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/11 "2008-10-05T02:02:56Z")
I recently visited Alcatraz (along with another 1 million people per year) and learned something of which I was not aware. Imprisonment is a fairly recent method of dealing with criminals, as recent as the 19th century. Here’s a Wiki cite about that: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison) Imprisonment seems so obvious to us but yet, in older times, criminality was dealt with differently. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/12 "2008-10-05T02:07:28Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > So OJ is finally found guilty of something. > > What length of sentence can he expect? Not long enough. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/13 "2008-10-05T17:34:00Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > IANAJudge, but as far as I can tell, kidnap gets you [32 points and using a gun gets you 2](http://www.ussc.gov/2002suppb/2a4_1.htm). According to [this](http://www.ussc.gov/2005guid/5a.htm) 34 points = 151-188 years (at least I assume they are years). Those are federal sentencing guidelines. O.J. was convicted under Nevada State Law (I believe). I still contend that if he wasn’t O.J., then they would have pled him out to probation. But, if he wasn’t O.J., he would be on Cali’s death row right now, so does it all work out in the end? ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oj-what-kind-of-jail-time/466434/14 "2008-10-06T04:26:26Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Those are federal sentencing guidelines. O.J. was convicted under Nevada State Law (I believe). > > I still contend that if he wasn’t O.J., then they would have pled him out to probation. But, if he wasn’t O.J., he would be on Cali’s death row right now, so does it all work out in the end? Do you think Nevada would offer probation for a crime that involved actual robbery at gunpoint? To a defendant who was just an average guy from another state who had no ties to the area? Las Vegas depends on millions of people annually bringing in huge amounts of money to play with. If tourists thought armed robbers could operate there without risking much of a sentence, a lot of that money would go somewhere else. Does anybody here know how to find actual sentences imposed by Nevada courts for comparable crimes? I haven’t had much luck with Google on this question.