After 9 years, OJ Simpson walks out of prison as parolee

Former football legend O.J. Simpson, who served nine years in prison for a kidnapping conviction, has finally walked out of a Nevada prison to start a new life as a parolee.

The former NFL star left prison shortly after midnight local time, and was picked up by an unidentified friend, according to Brooke Keast , a spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Corrections.

"I told him, 'Don't come back,' and he responded, 'I don't intend to,' " she said.

"He was upbeat, personable and seemed happy to get on with his life," she added.

Simpson spent a lifetime in the limelight -- first for his athletic prowess, charm and good looks, then as a murder suspect in the 1994 killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.

His murder trial in Los Angeles was dubbed "the trial of the century" and sparked years of debate over race and justice.

The victims' families filed a suit for wrongful death.

Two years after his acquittal, he was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.