This time, Simpson verdict draws a muted reaction in L.A.

With the Miami-based Simpson no longer a presence in Los Angeles and many of the murder trial's old landmarks erased from the landscape, Los Angeles residents said the new case failed to resonate with them as they are consumed by more pressing issues such as the economy and presidential election.

"There are way more important things going on in the world right now," said Lauren Lyster, 26, who was eating a muffin with friends at Peet's Coffee in Brentwood -- the spot that once housed Mezzaluna Restaurant, where victim Ronald Goldman worked. "Who cares about people committing stupid crimes?"

Thirteen years ago to the day Friday, a Los Angeles jury acquitted Simpson of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Goldman. At the time, the trial stoked racially charged emotions, with many in the black community supporting Simpson.

Two years later, Simpson was found civilly liable for the deaths and ordered to pay the victims' families $33.5 million.

When he is sentenced in December in the Las Vegas case, Simpson, 61, faces a minimum of 15 years in prison. In his armed robbery trial, prosecutors contended that Simpson masterminded the alleged robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a casino hotel room last year.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said that local reaction to Friday's verdict was relatively subdued because the former football star's public image has changed.

"In the 13 years, a lot has happened . . . The case polarized America along racial lines. With the passing of time, it's not as deep and not as passionate," Hutchinson said.

"He represented a symbol: racial division. And it was questioning the fairness of the system," he said. "He was a symbol of that division 15 years ago -- he's not now."

Nonetheless, Hutchinson said that because of the landmark case in 1995 and now his new conviction, "I don't think OJ Simpson will ever go away."

Andy Brown, 32, a travel industry manager, said he had mixed feelings about Friday's verdict.