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September 10. 2008
Jury Selection Begins in Simpson Case
have strong feelings about it. This
case is about what happened here
in Las Vegas last year."
The new case debuted as a
pale postscript to the m urder trial
that riveted Am erica in the 1990s
when Simpson, a form er pro foot­
ball star, was charged with m ur­
dering hisex-w ife, N icole Brown
Simpson, and her friend Ronald
A ccused o f kidnapping, robbery
( A Pi — O .J. Sim pson went on
trial for kidnapping and robbery
M onday in Las Vegas with ajudge
determ ined to find a jury unaf­
fected by his long-ago "Trial of
the Century ."
"W hat happened then, hap­
pened then," Judge Jackie Glass
told prospective jurors.
"If you are here and think you
are going to punish Mr. Simpson
for w hat happened in 1995, this is
not the case for you," she said,
urging them to confess if they
had such a motive. All stayed
silent.
W hile asking many questions
about the past, the judge stopped
short o f asking the big question
that Sim pson's lawyer wanted:
Do they consider Simpson a m ur­
derer?
"M y determ ination is no. we
are not going there," G lass told
law yers outside the prospects'
presence. "We are not here to re­
litigate that case. The jury reached
a verdict in that case and people
O.J. Simpson appears in a
Las Vegas court Monday
for his trial on charges o f
burglary, robbery and
assault. (AP photo)
G oldm an, and ultim ately acquit­
ted.
M issing were the crow ds that
surrounded the courthouse when
Sim pson was arrested last year
for allegedly robbing two sports
collectibles dealers in a hotel
room , and the m edia throng that
has follow ed him over the years
was drainatical ly di minished.
Sim pson has a co-defendant
this time, Clarence "C.J." Stewart,
an old friend who went along on
an ill- f a te d m is s io n w h ich
Sim pson claim s was intended to
reclaim personal property.
Sim pson and S tew art have
each pleaded not guilty to 12
charges, including felony kidnap­
ping, armed robbery, conspiracy,
burglary, coercion and assault
with a deadly weapon.
Simpson maintains he didn't
ask anyone to bring guns to the
hotel rix>m and that he didn’t know
anyone in the room was armed.
T he stakes are high — a rob­
bery conviction would mean m an­
datory prison time, and a kidnap­
ping conviction carries the possi­
bility o f life in prison with the
possibility o f parole.
Unemployed Jumps to 5-year High in 2008
AP) - The nation’s unem ­ nesses alike.
The Labor D epartm ent’s
ploym ent rate zoom ed to a
five-year high o f 6.1 percent report showed the increasing
in A u g u st as e m p lo y e rs toll the housing, credit and fi­
slashed 84,000jobs, dramatic nancial crises are taking on
proof of the m ounting damage the economy.
With the employm ent situa­
a deeply troubled economy is
tion
d e te rio ra tin g , th e re ’s
inflicting on workers and busi­
growing worry that consum ­
ers will recoil, throwing the
econom y into a tailspin later
this year or early next year.
The jobless rate jum ped to
6.1 percent in August, from 5.7
percent i n J uly. And, employers
cut payrolls for the eighth month
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in a row. Job losses in June and
July turned out to be much
deeper. The economy lost a
whopping KXJ.OOOjobsin June
and another 60,(XX) in July, ac­
cording to revised figures. Pre­
viously, the government reported
job losses at 51 .(XX) in each of
those months.
So far this year, jo b losses
totaled 605,000.
“With the unem ploym ent
rate over 6 percent, it is a clear
w a rn in g sig n th a t th is
eco n o m y is co n tin u in g to
soften faster than we thought.
It is a real concern,” said Joel
Naroff, president of N aroff
Econom ic Advisors. “ B usi­
nesses have decided to hunker
down. They are not hiring, and
they are paring workers where
they can. That is making things
pretty tough out there.”
Obama Blasts Job Numbers
A 10.6 percent unem ploym ent
rate for African A m ericans in the
latestem ploym ent num bers drew
a strong rebuke from Sen. Barack
Obama.
“T oday’s jo b s report is a stark
rem inder o f w h at's at stake for
African A merican fam ilies in this
election," the presidential candi­
date said Friday. “O ver the past
year, African A m erican unem ­
ploym ent has shot up by 2.9 per­
centage points -th e largest one
year increase in 24 years.
O bam a rem inded voters that
his opponent John M cCain has
called the fundam entals o f the
Sen. Barack Obama
econom y ‘strong.’
He said African American fami­
lies are working harder and harder
fo r less, w ith inco m es dow n
$ 1,800 since G eorge Bush took
office.
"John M cCain’san sw erfo rth e
econom y is more o f the same:
$200 billion in tax cuts to big cor­
porations and oil com panies, and
not one dim e o f tax relief to more
than I OOmillion middle-class fami­
lies,” O bam a said.
“ Il l am President, I will cut taxes
for 95 percent of alI working fami­
lies and provide an immediate $50
billion to struggling slates so that
they don’t have to cut back on
health care and education and can
rebuild roads and schools. T hat’s
the change working families need
right now,” he said.
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