O.J. Simpson's Daughter Arnelle Testified At His Parole Hearing

On Thursday, O.J. Simpson appeared before a board in Nevada to argue for parole from his 2008 conviction of armed robbery, kidnapping, and various other charges. As all eyes once again tuned into a hearing for the former NFL star, the people surrounding Simpson throughout his trials and convictions come to mind. You may be wondering: who is O.J.'s daughter, Arnelle Simpson?

Arnelle is O.J.'s oldest daughter from his first marriage to Marguerite Whitley. According to The Los Angeles Times, Whitley and Simpson were high school sweethearts, and were married for 11 years before their divorce in 1979. They separated after Simpson began dating Nicole Brown in 1977.

Arnelle testified in her father's 2008 hearing for the Las Vegas robbery. She also took credit for the idea of Simpson's 2007 book If I Did It during a deposition before its publication.

In 2013, Simpson was seeking a new trial for the 2007 robbery, and Arnelle testified that although she was in Vegas during the time of the robbery and she thought she had heard about the memorabilia that had been taken, she was not aware of any guns or other weapons present.

Arnelle, who reportedly lives in Fresno, CA, took the stand for her father once again on Thursday to argue for his parole to be granted. She read a letter from Simpson's family and pled to the parole board of commissioners to let her father go free after nine years of serving time in prison.

At the parole hearing on Thursday, Arnelle characterized her relationship with her father as "like my best friend and my rock" and emphasized the toll the trials and prison sentence have taken on her family. She said:

This has been hard, I'm going to be honest. This has been really, truly hard. There is no right or wrong way to explain how to handle this, but we do know that — I know that — he is remorseful. He truly is remorseful and we just want him to come home so that we can move forward for us, quietly, but to move forward. So I thank you for allowing me to be here this morning. I thank you.

Arnelle first testified for Simpson in 1995 during his trial for the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldstone. She was 26 at the time, and said her father was "emotional," distraught," and "out of control," when he learned of his ex-wife's murder. He was eventually acquitted in the case.

As the only one of Simpson's children to testify for her father, she has remained the most visible throughout his time working with the justice system.