US judge denies new trial for OJ Simpson over 2008 'sports memorabilia robbery' case

Former American football player-turned actor OJ Simpson's bid for a new trial for the 2008 sports memorabilia robbery case was reportedly denied by a judge, who said that his claims of poor representation 'lack merit.'

The 101-page ruling came after a jury found Simpson guilty in 2008 of kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges in what he maintained was an attempt to retrieve memorabilia and personal items from two sports collectibles dealers in a casino hotel room.

According to the New York Daily News, Simpson's bid for freedom was based on the claim that his original lawyer botched his armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas more than five years ago.

The report mentioned that Simpson was jailed following his conviction on Oct. 3, 2008, and sentenced in December 2008 to nine to 33 years in Nevada state prison, of which the former football star has now served five years.

Simpson's 2008 conviction came 13 years to the day after he was acquitted of murder in the 1994 stabbing deaths of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, and almost seven years after a jury in Miami acquitted him of all charges in a Florida road rage case, the report added.