Over the weekend I interviewed former O.J. Simpson house guest and murder trial witness, Kato Kaelin. He is in Vegas through April 8 doing a cameo (as a former family house guest) in the dinner show "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding" at Planet Hollywood. At one point he offers a funny toast during the show that he helped write.

In 1994 I was in graduate school in the Midwest, and therefore I know a lot less about the famous murder trial than people who were in Vegas and California at the time. Most of what I know about Simpson I learned covering his trial for armed robbery and kidnapping in Vegas last year. Here is what Kaelin had to say about that trial as well as the one he was connected to all those years ago.

Richard Abowitz: How did you wind up in "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding"?

Kato Kaelin: It was pretty much just a phone call. I was approached by the producer.  I love doing it. I love a live audience and the energy that comes from a live audience.

Q:  Who came up with the idea that you would be a house guest?

A: I guess the cast did. I didn't. I am replacing Barry Williams from "The Brady Bunch"

Q: Did you write the toast you gave?

A: They gave me a DVD of the show, and I was sort of left on my own to just think of lines to say. So it was just sort of trial by fire.

Q: Is it odd to you to be playing a role that jokes about where you were that night when two people were murdered?

A: I guess so. I get asked about it so much. I even put a line about it in "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding." I say, "Yes, he did it. He finally got married." But I have done a lot of other stuff. You don't know how great it is for me to be recognized for something other than the trial. People will now come up to me and say, "You did a great job on that." And I feel the more I do the better it is for me and the more that happens.

Q: What is your life like now? I assume you have your own house?

A: Yes, I can be a guest on my own sofa. My life is wonderful. I have had a girlfriend for three years,  and she is a personal trainer and a model.

Q: So looking back, when did you decide that in your opinion O.J. Simpson had committed the murders?

A: The process was that I never was in a courtroom in my life. Then I had a lawyer. And my lawyer told me to keep open-minded and to answer just the questions and don't ever speculate. I was just making sure everything I said was correct. It was nerve-racking. I was sequestered and did not hear a lot of the evidence you did until after the trial. After I heard certain things, then I believed he did it.

Q: So knowing him did not give you a feeling in your gut one way or the other?

A: It was mixed. I never saw any violence.

Q: But you knew he had a temper?

A: Yeah, exactly. Although he is just a person, he is very Shakespearean personality. He wanted everything.

Q: What do you think about what happened to him in Vegas?

A: I think it is 100% karma, I really, really do.

Photo credit: Sarah Gerke

Yesterday, the Las Vegas portion of the O. J. Simpson saga came to a conclusion. Simpson was shipped out of the local jail about 45 miles away to the medium security prison at Indian Springs, High Desert State Prison. Last night was was his first night spent at Indian Springs, serving the sentence of nine to 33 years he received Friday for his participation in an armed robbery in September 2007 at Palace Station.

Yes, Indian Springs is only about 45 miles away, and so Simpson must truly be learning that Vegas is a city built in the middle of nowhere. If he has a window view, he will be seeing only the bleakest and ugliest desert nothingness you can imagine. When I drove past Indian Springs I thought it was a good nomination to be Purgatory. And that is without the prison.

Back in Vegas yesterday, I happened to get off a highway exit near Palace Station, and I noticed the casino. I have gotten off that highway exit many times before but never picked up the clear view of Palace Station. The reason, of course: Palace Station, was just another casino, and when you live in Vegas, over time, small gambling properties -- despite marquees,  blinking lights and a large hotel towers -- become as invisible as slot machines at the grocery store. 

But Simpson has given a notoriety to Palace Station forevermore and that odd twist of fate has made this rundown property probably the best known casino in Vegas outside the tourist corridor. That is a pity because parent company Station has three fantastic properties that equal the tourist corridor offerings without being amidst the Strip wildness (apparently, some people want away from that): Red Rock Resort, Green Valley Ranch and, newly opened, Aliante Station.  And Station could use the tourist dollars around now.

But Palace Station is not in the same league as those the newer Station properties and  probably will gain little in terms of room sales from all the free press. Palace Station remains where you stay when you can't afford someplace nicer; and with all the bargains to be had on the Strip now, that might be a harder sell than ever. Of course, even the worst room in Palace Station is still in Vegas and I bet that is heavenly compared to the accommodations in Indian Springs.

In a surprise to no one, Clark County District Judge Jackie Glass decided she presided over a fair trial with a just verdict against O. J. Simpson. She therefore turned down the defense motion for a new trial.

Simpson will remain locked up until his sentencing on Dec. 5, which will certainly include a long residency in the Nevada penal system.

Readers of this blog's early years will recall the murder case against former professional body builders Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan. Titus wound up accepting a plea deal with Judge Jackie Glass, who these days is famous from the O.J. Simpson case. Her sentence of Titus and the appeal of that sentence being argued in front of her today both provide a hint as to how she treats celebrity defendants when sentencing. Glass will do the sentencing honors with Simpson in December.

Some history on this case: Titus accepted his plea deal shortly before the trial began, and he was sentenced in August to 21 to 55 years for second-degree murder by Judge Glass. Today Titus goes before Judge Glass again claiming she promised to sentence him to only 17 years to 55 years for the killing. The judge has previously said she does not remember that agreement. And, according to the Review-Journal:

"Judges can give whatever sentence they deem appropriate and are not bound by plea agreements."

The context is interesting as Glass, Titus claims, offered those 17 years at a point when the defense wanted 15 years for him and the prosecution 17 years, and so even then she was leaning toward a larger number when given a choice. By sentencing an even larger number became her final decision. After reviewing things further, she exercised her right to go beyond what the prosecution asked for in sentencing. 

I suspect that this does not bode well for Simpson at his sentencing in December. Today's hearing involves Judge Glass being asked to overrule herself and knock four years off the Titus sentence; he claims he would not have taken the plea had he not believed the offer of 17 years was solid. That ruling seems unlikely. Otherwise, Titus wants the deal tossed and his day in court. No matter the outcome, it will be interesting for Simpson watchers to see how Glass rules.

"Saturday Night Live" offers this take on the O. J. Simpson jury selection process. Too bad jury selection wasn't really this interesting.



Meanwhile, Steve Friess has exclusive photos on his blog of the replica Palace Sation hotel room created for the jurors to view. In fact, this room will never be used as the jurors made a trip to the hotel room at the real Palace Station instead.

I am sure it is just a coincidence that the O.J. Simpson trial begins Sept. 8 just after the traditional slow tourist season in Vegas ends by Labor Day weekend. But another plea bargain in the case today means Simpson is down to one co-defendant before the trial is all about Simpson. Local defense lawyers suspect that is what the district attorney's office is hoping to achieve. So in the weeks remaining before trial look to see if the prosecution succeeds in offering Clarence "C.J." Stewart a deal.

You would think Simpson would be old news in Vegas. But if you do a Google news search on our city, of the six related suggested topic searches, only "las vegas hotel" and "las vegas casino" are not directly connected to Simpson. No "echelon place," "bankrupt lake las vegas" or even "criss angel." The remaining search suggestions from Google on news about Las Vegas: "oj simpson," "nicole brown simpson," "sports memorabilia," and "armed robbery."

Who would think that Simpson's fame would so totally dominate Vegas coverage?