First, it was White Boy Rick; now the Juice. Jeeze, everybody who's anybody is getting out of prison this month.

I happened to be traveling to Flint for a court date in Genesee County Circuit Court right when OJ's parole hearing was broadcast live, so I was able to listen to the entire proceeding.

The story of OJ's conviction is well known. Although he dodged a double murder conviction in Los Angeles in the mid-1990s, OJ was convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007, when he bum-rushed a hotel room with several accomplices in a misguided attempt to recover some of his infamous property and memorabilia.

As a criminal defense lawyer listening to the parole hearing, I was well aware of the number one rule when standing in front of a judge at sentencing, or when pleading for release before the parole board: be contrite, be humble, be remorseful.

A parole hearing is not the time to re-argue the facts of your case. But that is exactly what OJ did today during his parole hearing.

After listening to his eldest daughter Arnelle, now 48, extend the traditional message of remorseful contrition toward the three-member parole board panel in Nevada today, I winced as OJ allocuted on his own behalf.

He dove right into his defense, asserting that he had no idea anyone in the room possessed a weapon, much less brandished one. It is now common knowledge that OJ had directed one of his accomplices to "bring the heat".

Although he was visibly intoxicated during the robbery, when asked whether he availed himself of alcohol treatment in the prison -as he promised to do at his last parole hearing in 2013- he confidently stated that he had no problem with alcohol; and further asserted that he led a "conflict-free" life.

These gross misstatements alone can be sufficient to scuttle an inmate's opportunity for parole. In the end, however, OJ's advanced age, -70- his lack of any prior felony convictions, and the fact that he completed his judgment of sentence, was sufficient to obtain an order for his release on October 1, 2017.

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