"Mr. Simpson really believed he was recovering his own property," Simpson attorney Yale Galanter told a three-justice panel hearing oral arguments in Las Vegas on Friday. "Our theory of defense was never put before the jury."

Clark County District Attorney David Roger called the September 2008 trial contentious but fair, and the sentences just. He urged the justices to deny both appeals.

After Galanter characterized Simpson's conviction as prejudicial "payback" for his 1994 double-murder acquittal, justices Michael Cherry, Mark Gibbons and Nancy Saitta posed pointed questions about whether convicted co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart received a fair trial alongside Simpson.

Both men were convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, conspiracy and other crimes for what Simpson maintained was an attempt to retrieve family photos and mementoes. Four other men took plea deals and received probation after testifying for the prosecution.

The court, which also reduced former first lady Wu Shu-chen's life term to 20 years imprisonment, said it had reached the decision after concluding that Chen had embezzled less money than previously assumed.

"I thank the judges for the lighter sentence, but I will still appeal the ruling," said Chen, looking thinner and sporting longer hair than during his heyday as president from 2000 to 2008.

Chen was speaking after his reduced sentence was announced, while taking part in a detention hearing.

The court said it would give Chen a written reply later about whether it planned to keep him in detention while he prepared his appeal.

The Detroit News says Thursday that a lawsuit filed by Palace Sports & Entertainment in Oakland County Circuit Court demands the return of confidential records and seeks a cash award.

Palace says at least nine ex-employees have joined Tom Wilson at Ilitch Holdings, which controls the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings.

Wilson was the head of the Pistons and Palace Sports until he resigned in February. He is not a defendant in the lawsuit.

Palace Sports says it lost information that could be used to attract sponsors and vendors. Olympia Entertainment, an arm of Ilitch Holdings, calls the lawsuit "sour grapes."

"We only have 15 minutes to make our arguments. It really is daunting," Yale Galanter said Thursday. "But what the public doesn't know is that there are hundreds of pages of briefs that have already been filed."

Simpson and convicted co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart won't be in court when their lawyers tell a trio of justices that Simpson's fame — and his acquittal in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman in Los Angeles — tilted the Las Vegas proceedings in favor of the prosecution.

Simpson, who turns 63 next month, has been working as a gymnasium janitor while serving nine to 33 years at a state prison in the northern Nevada town of Lovelock.

Stewart, 56, heads a music program while serving 7 1/2 to 27 years at High Desert State Prison, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which is to begin Kagan's confirmation hearings June 28, has requested all documents from her tenure in the Clinton White House. The panel also requested papers related to Kagan's failed nomination to a federal appeals court, which are expected to be included in Friday's release.

A first, 46,500-page batch of files from Kagan's stint as a domestic policy adviser to Clinton, released last week, yielded some clues about her pragmatic style and views. She helped Clinton craft a middle-ground position on late-term abortions that angered groups on both sides of the highly charged issue, praised a legal brief designed to protect affirmative action and helped craft an aggressive strategy to enact gun control measures. She also was instrumental in intense but ultimately unsuccessful bipartisan negotiations on a major anti-smoking initiative.

On Monday, the chief of a U.N. commission responsible for battling corruption and crime in Guatemala resigned and accused Reyes of having a history of ties to organized crime.

Reyes denies the allegations. But he promised Thursday night to comply with the court's ruling and cede office.

A commission will now repeat the process of compiling a list of candidates from which President Alvaro Colom will choose a new attorney general.