O.J. Simpson judge known for tough sentences

Known as a get-it-done jurist
Glass, a petite mother of two with hazel eyes and shoulder-length dark hair, sometimes wears blue jeans beneath her robes. She has a reputation as a get-it-done jurist, but the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has accused her of sacrificing defendants' constitutional rights for court efficiency.

She scheduled trial days in the Simpson case from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and once told jurors to snap elastic bands on their wrists if they felt themselves nodding off to sleep.

Glass sometimes pounded on the bench, yelling, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" to curb lawyers' objections or cut off arguments. The refrain, "Sit down, Mr. Galanter!" echoed in the courtroom as Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter continued arguing his points. TV host Jay Leno and "Saturday Night Live" parodied Glass in jokes about the trial.

Glass' toughest trial day was when the lead investigator in the case blurted out a claim of possible misconduct by a Simpson friend. The dispute over the gaffe threatened to derail the trial in its final day.

"I'm surprised you haven't seen my head spin and fire come out of my mouth at this point in this trial," she said from the bench.

Glass, 52, is a former local TV reporter who went into law after meeting her attorney husband in a courthouse hallway. She is a 1984 graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law and has been married for 22 years to Steven Wolfson, a member of the Las Vegas City Council.

Some predict a mid-range sentence
Detractors accuse Glass of rejecting challenges to her rulings and of failing to provide defense lawyers with full reports about mentally troubled defendants.

"A common problem we see coming out of her courtroom is she reduces or eliminates the defense ability to present a case," said Howard Brooks, a deputy county public defender who handles appeals.

Some observers think Glass will pick a mid-range sentence for Simpson and Stewart to avoid the perception that Simpson's conviction in the Sept. 13, 2007, hotel-room encounter was connected with his acquittal in Los Angeles in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

"The elephant in the room is that she can't appear to be punishing him for California," said Gary Hengstler, director of the Reynolds National Center for Courts and Media at the University of Nevada, Reno.

"She doesn't want to appear too lenient, because (Simpson) was convicted on every count," Hengstler said. "But in relation to what we usually think of as kidnapping, this was on the low end of the scale. I think she'll split the difference."

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