O.J. Simpson was denied a new trial Tuesday for his 2008 conviction for robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas, which carries a sentence of up to 33 years in prison, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The former running back was seeking a new trial, claiming incompetent legal counsel, but Clark County District Judge Linda Marie Bell ruled that for now, the 66-year-old will have to remain behind bars.
"We’re obviously very disappointed in the judge’s decision," said Osvaldo Fumo, one of Simpson’s attorneys. "We plan to appeal the case."
In 2007, Simpson and several friends stormed into a $39-a-night hotel room to retrieve sports memorabilia that Simpson claimed had been stolen from him.
Defense lawyers argued that Simpson was merely trying to recover property that day at the Palace Station Hotel because it belonged to him and that he was unaware that the people accompanying him had guns, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Simpson was convicted of robbery and the kidnapping of two sports memorabilia dealers.
Simpson’s lawyers say the former NFL star’s attorney in the first trial, Miami-based Yale Galanter, offered incomplete legal counsel that led to the conviction. Simpson had hoped that the judge would void his convictions and grant him a second chance in court, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Simpson will be 70 before he is eligible for parole.
Read more at the Los Angeles Times.