To be honest I am not sure if OJ is guilty or not. But I would give it at least a 50% probability that he killed Nicole.
Of course that doesn't mean the LAPD did not try to frame OJ. Guilty or not I suspect the LAPD planted evidence to make OJ look guilty.
Sep 18, 9:11 AM EDT
Simpson friend: It seemed like a setup
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- If the Goldman family has its way, it may soon own the sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson is accused of committing armed robbery to recover for himself. One man charged along with the former football star said Tuesday that the Las Vegas hotel room dispute seemed like a setup.
Walter Alexander, 46, said Simpson may have been tricked because the memorabilia dealer who tipped him off also recorded everything on tape.
"It sounds like a setup to me," Alexander told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer.
"He did believe that he was going to retrieve his own property," Alexander said.
One of the memorabilia dealers who spoke publicly about the incident on Monday and described Simpson and a group of men coming into the hotel room "commando style" was hospitalized later that day with chest pains, a staff member at Century City Doctors Hospital said Tuesday.
Bruce Fromong was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the staff member said, declining to give her name. A Cedars-Sinai spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a call seeking information about Fromong's condition.
Simpson was being held without bail Tuesday in Clark County Detention Center on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon.
Witnesses and authorities have said that they don't believe Simpson had a gun but that some of the men with him did. If convicted, Simpson could receive up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count.
The Heisman Trophy winner has been in and out of the spotlight since he was acquitted of murder in the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The Goldman family, which won a civil verdict against Simpson, has waged a decade-long campaign to track down and claim his assets to fulfill the civil verdict. It planned to file a request in Superior Court on Tuesday to obtain ownership of the sports memorabilia seized.
David Cook, an attorney for Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, said he believed Nevada authorities would turn over the items with a court order after Simpson's criminal case finishes. The items include Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate, a gold Rolex watch and the suit Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted, Cook said.
"Assuming that this case is resolved one way or another, at the end of the case, the stuff will never go back to Mr. Simpson," Cook vowed. "He's going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed."
Another man suspected in the alleged heist surrendered Monday. Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, lived at one of the residences that police searched early Sunday to recover some of the memorabilia.
Stewart turned over some of the missing goods, including footballs bearing autographs, police said. He was being held on six felony charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
A fourth man, Tom Scotto, was questioned and cleared of suspicion after police concluded he was not in the room, reducing the number of outstanding suspects to two, police said. Both were apparently seeking attorneys and preparing to surrender, police said.
Alexander, who faces charges almost identical to Simpson's, said he went to Las Vegas for a wedding and not to see Simpson. "I just happened to get caught up in a bad situation," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Simpson's arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer, said he was preparing a bond motion and will ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance.
"If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now," he said.
"You can't rob something that is yours," Galanter said. "O.J. said, 'You've got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.'"
The Goldmans hope the property never finds its way back to Simpson.
In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica returned $33.5 million in judgments against Simpson in a wrongful-death lawsuit by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
The jury awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Ron Goldman's estate and a total of $25 million in punitive damages, divided equally between both estates. Despite extensive court hearings, however, most of the judgment has remained unpaid.
In 1999, seized personal property was auctioned off, raising only $430,000, more than half of it from the sale of his Heisman Trophy. The house itself did not generate anything toward paying the judgment. A bank foreclosed on the home, put it up for auction and bought it back.
Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled in connection with any money the Goldmans say Simpson earned from a video game featuring his likeness.
Mesa friend of O.J. Simpson says it all seemed like a setup
Sept. 18, 2007 06:27 AM
LOS ANGELES - If the Goldman family has its way, it may soon own the sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson is accused of committing armed robbery to recover for himself. Meanwhile, one man charged with the former football star said Tuesday that the Las Vegas hotel room dispute seemed like a setup.
Walter Alexander, 46, said Simpson may have been tricked because the memorabilia dealer who tipped him off also recorded everything on tape.
"It sounds like a setup to me," Alexander told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer.
"He did believe that he was going to retrieve his own property," Alexander said.
Simpson was being held without bail Tuesday in Clark County Detention Center on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. Witnesses and authorities have said that they don't believe Simpson had a gun but that some of the men with him did. If convicted, Simpson could receive up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count.
Simpson has been in and out of the spotlight since he was acquitted of murder in the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The Goldman family, which won a civil verdict against Simpson, has waged a decade-long campaign to track down and claim his assets to fulfill the civil verdict. It planned to file a request in Superior Court on Tuesday to obtain ownership of the sports memorabilia seized.
David Cook, an attorney for Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, said he believed Nevada authorities would turn over the items with a court order after Simpson's criminal case finishes. The items include Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate, a gold Rolex watch and the suit Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted, Cook said.
"Assuming that this case is resolved one way or another, at the end of the case, the stuff will never go back to Mr. Simpson," Cook vowed. "He's going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed."
Another man suspected in the alleged heist surrendered Monday. Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, lived at one of the residences that police searched early Sunday to recover some of the memorabilia.
Stewart turned over some of the missing goods, including footballs bearing autographs, police said. He was being held on six felony charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
A fourth man, Tom Scotto, was questioned and cleared of suspicion after police concluded he was not in the room, reducing the number of outstanding suspects to two, police said. Both were apparently seeking attorneys and preparing to surrender, police said.
Alexander, who faces charges almost identical to Simpson's, said he went to Las Vegas for a wedding and not to see Simpson. "I just happened to get caught up in a bad situation," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Simpson's arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer, said he was preparing a bond motion and will ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance.
"If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now," he said.
"You can't rob something that is yours," Galanter said. "O.J. said, You've got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.'"
The Goldmans hope the property never finds its way back to Simpson.
In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica returned $33.5 million in judgments against Simpson in a wrongful-death lawsuit by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
The jury awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Ron Goldman's estate and a total of $25 million in punitive damages, divided equally between both estates. Despite extensive court hearings, however, most of the judgment has remained unpaid.
In 1999, seized personal property was auctioned off, raising only $430,000, more than half of it from the sale of his Heisman Trophy. The house itself did not generate anything toward paying the judgment. A bank foreclosed on the home, put it up for auction and bought it back.
Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled in connection with any money the Goldmans say Simpson earned from a video game featuring his likeness
September 16, 2007 - 4:41PM
O.J Simpson arrest has Mesa tie
Mike Branom, Tribune
Sunday's arrest of NFL Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson has an East Valley connection. Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa also was taken into custody by Las Vegas police. Following Saturday night’s arrest, he was booked on multiple felonies and then released without bail, police said.
O.J. Simpson arrested in Las Vegas robbery
Alexander, Simpson and perhaps four other people are accused of robbing sports collectors of memorabilia.
Police said men with guns stormed a hotel room on Thursday, and took several items connected with Simpson’s pro football career.
But Simpson has said there were no weapons, and he went to the room at the Palace Station to retrieve stolen memorabilia.
Alexander was booked on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon.
A message left on Alexander’s cell phone by the Tribune on Sunday afternoon was not returned, and no one answered the door of his east Mesa home. Also, a page sent to his Los Angeles attorney, Robert Rentzer, was not returned.
But Alexander told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that he was in Las Vegas for a wedding and had nothing to do with the alleged robbery.
Man named in Simpson case is kin of Goudeau
Robert Anglen and Amanda Wible
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 18, 2007 12:00 AM
The Mesa man arrested with O.J. Simpson in the robbery in a Las Vegas hotel room is related to "Baseline Killer" suspect Mark Goudeau, who was convicted this month on rape charges.
Walter Alexander, 46, who told friends he is a golfing buddy of Simpson and knows Mike Tyson, is Goudeau's nephew.
Alexander's ex-wife, Deborah Alexander, said from her Los Angeles home that he would never carry a gun and is too honest to go along with what police describe as the robbery of a sports-memorabilia dealer by Simpson and other men.
"It can't be true," Alexander said Monday. "Walter is a good man. First and foremost, he is a dad."
Goudeau was convicted Sept. 7 in the sexual attack of two women. He faces trial on nine counts of murder and 15 additional cases of rape in the serial-killing case.
Deborah Alexander said Goudeau's arrest as a suspect in the "Baseline Killer" shootings sent shockwaves through the Alexander family.
"Walter was just floored," she said. "You never in a million years would have believed that it would have been Mark.... Walter looked up to Mark. He was shocked."
Alexander's relatives don't want any comparison with Goudeau. They said Walter Alexander is a deeply spiritual and hard-working father whose only mistake is being in the wrong place with the wrong people.
"Walter is not one of (Simpson's) posse," Deborah Alexander said.
She said her ex-husband is a longtime friend of Simpson and the two often gamble and play golf together.
She said Walter Alexander was in Las Vegas with Simpson for the wedding of a mutual friend last week, when the alleged robbery occurred. She said she does not believe that her ex-husband had anything to do with a robbery.
Arnette Brown, Alexander's older sister, who lives in Tempe, called the arrest a "tragic mess," and insisted he's innocent.
She said they are close and talk daily, but that they have not spoken about the alleged robbery.
Police say Simpson, Alexander and three others confronted a sports-memorabilia dealer in a room at the Palace Station Hoteland Casino. Simpson told police that the memorabilia had been stolen from him and that he wanted it back.
Simpson and Alexander were booked Saturday night on charges of robbery with a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon and burglary with a firearm.
On Monday, Las Vegas resident Clarence Stewart, 35, surrendered in the case, police said. Simpson, who was acquitted on criminal charges that he murdered his wife and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994, is being held without bail. Alexander was released on his own recognizance.
Simpson was found liable for the deaths in a 1997 civil case and was ordered to pay the Goldman family $38 million and Nicole Brown Simpson's family $24 million.
Alexander has no criminal record, but his financial record shows a history of tax liens in California and a judgment in Nevada.
Police records show a misdemeanor arrest for domestic violence in Los Angeles this year, but no charges were filed. Deborah Alexander described the incident as a "misunderstanding."
In another case, Walter Alexander filed an order of protection in January against his girlfriend. Maricopa County Superior Court records show he filed the order because she had become physically abusive to him and his children. Alexander later had the order dismissed.
Former co-workers said Alexander had homes in California, Arizona and Nevada, and his car recently was repossessed.
Manny Carrillo, Alexander's former employer at Arizona Real Estate & Loans Center, said Alexander was a quiet person but at times had a "very high temper."
Alexander worked there from March until the office closed in late August.
Alexander told Carrillo he was from Los Angeles and knew many celebrities, including Simpson and Tyson.
Alexander, a licensed real-estate agent in California and in Arizona, had started to deliver flowers to make ends meet, Carrillo said.
"He was very much hurting for money," he said.
Two weeks before the office closed, Carrillo received a complaint about Alexander's behavior on the job, but settled it before it went to the state Department of Real Estate.
Robert Rentzer, Alexander's attorney, would not comment on the alleged robbery and said he and Alexander had met briefly at a wedding and he did not know him well.
Carrillo said the offices where he and Alexander worked were burglarized in late July and the only item stolen was Alexander's work computer. There were no signs of forced entry, he said.
Carrillo said Alexander was "a rat in a hole, always hiding everything."
Reporter Senta Scarborough and wire reports contributed to this story.
O.J. Simpson named a suspect in break-in at Las Vegas casino
Associated Press
Sept. 14, 2007 08:44 AM
LAS VEGAS - Investigators questioned O.J. Simpson and named him a suspect Friday in a break-in at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia.
The break-in was reported at the Palace Station casino late Thursday night, police spokesman Jose Montoya said. He said investigators determined the break-in involved sports collectibles.
"When they talked to him, Simpson made the comment that he believed the memorabilia was his," Montoya said. "We're getting conflicting stories from the two sides."
Simpson was released after he and several associates were questioned, but he is considered a suspect in the case, Montoya said. He is believed to be in Las Vegas.
"We don't believe he's going anywhere," he said.
The Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Simpson has had to auction off his sports collectibles, including his Heisman Trophy, to pay some of the $33.5 million judgment awarded to the Goldman family.
On Thursday, the Goldman family published a book about the killings that Simpson had written under the title, "If I Did It." After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, the family bought the rights and retitled the book "If I Did It: The Confessions of a Killer."
Investigators in the casino case planned to give their report to prosecutors Friday, Montoya said. The district attorney's office will decide whether to pursue charges.
Simpson had been scheduled to give a deposition Friday in Miami in a bankruptcy case involving his eldest daughter. But it was rescheduled because Simpson had told attorneys that he would be out of town.
Patricia Jones, a woman at the Florida office of Simpson attorney Yale L. Galanter who identified herself as Galanter's associate, said Galanter was out of town and had been forwarded messages seeking comment.
The Palace Station, an aging property just west of the Las Vegas Strip, is one of several Station Casinos-owned resorts that cater to locals. The 1,000-room hotel-casino, with a 21-story tower and adjacent buildings, opened in 1976.
A company spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.
To be honest OJ might be innocent in this deal! The cops did't have probable cause to arrest OJ. And they certainly would have arrested OJ if the had the probable cause.
Sep 15, 7:35 AM EDT
Simpson named suspect in Vegas robbery
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY and LINDA DEUTSCH
Associated Press Writers
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson said he doesn't understand why he is under investigation in an alleged armed robbery at a casino hotel room involving his sports memorabilia. The former football star told The Associated Press on Friday that he went to the room to recover items stolen from him and that, despite reports, no guns were involved.
"There was no armed robbery here," Simpson said in a telephone interview. "It wasn't a robbery. They said `Take your stuff and go.'"
The incident at the Palace Station casino has once again focused attention on Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman more than a decade ago. He was later found civilly liable for their deaths and ordered to pay a $33.5 million judgment.
On Thursday night, officers responded to a call from the hotel made by Alfred Beardsley, one of the men in the hotel room and a longtime collector of Simpson memorabilia. Police Capt. James Dillon said the caller told police that O.J. Simpson was involved in the robbery.
"We have (reports) from the victim that there were weapons involved," Dillon said, but added that no firearms had been recovered, no charges had been filed and no one was in custody.
Police contacted Simpson, who would not give authorities the names of the "three or four" men who accompanied him into the hotel room until his lawyer was present, Dillon said.
Authorities were trying to sort out who owned the items in dispute and had some "legitimate information that part or all of the items" belong to Simpson, Dillon said.
Simpson said he and Beardsley had a friendly phone conversation later Friday and they wanted to resolve the matter. Both indicated the underlying issue was recovery of photos from Simpson's childhood.
"Nobody was roughed up," Simpson said in the interview. "What I can't understand is these guys are in a room trying to fence stolen goods and I'm the story."
Simpson was a Heisman Trophy winner in college and a star running back in the NFL. Many of his sports collectibles, including his Heisman, were seized under court order and auctioned to pay some of the $33.5 million awarded to the Goldman family and the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson.
Now a Miami resident, O.J. Simpson lives off a sizable pension that could not be seized under the civil judgment. But last year, during a scandal over payment of hundreds of thousands of dollars for his participation in a book about the murders, he said he needed the money to get out of debt and to "secure my homestead."
Simpson said he was conducting a sting operation on Thursday to collect his belongings when he was led to the room.
"We walked into the room," Simpson said. "I'm the last one to go in and when they see me, it's all 'Oh God.'"
Simpson said it was auction house owner Tom Riccio who tipped him off and arranged for him to meet with collectors trying to peddle his belongings. Beardsley, however, said Riccio found out that he was going to be involved in a private sale of the childhood photos "and got Simpson all worked up."
"I will give him those pictures back, I feel bad about it," said Beardsley, adding that he and Simpson "feel this has gotten way out of control."
Riccio, meanwhile, told the Los Angeles Times that Simpson was supposed to show up and tell the men to give the belongings back or he would call the police. Instead, Simpson showed up with about seven "intimidating looking guys," at least one of whom had a gun, he said.
"We tried to peacefully reacquire these personal items, not for their monetary value, but for their family value. O.J. wanted to be able to pass these things down to his kids," Riccio told the newspaper.
"They (Simpson and his companions) took the stuff, and they left. What can I say? Things went haywire," he said.
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press Writer Jeff Wilson in Los Angeles also contributed to this report. Bad news for tree huggers. Good news for the rest of us.
Sep 16, 3:34 PM EDT
O.J. Simpson arrested in Vegas robbery
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday on charges related to an armed robbery involving sport memorabilia, police said. Simpson was arrested shortly after 11 a.m. and is being brought to a police office, Capt. James Dillon said. Police are still determining charges against Simpson.
Several police officers were seen entering the hotel where Simpson is staying; a security guard said police took Simpson out a side door shortly after.
At least one other person has been arrested and police said earlier Sunday that as many as six people could be arrested in connection with the alleged armed robbery that occurred in a room inside the Palace Station casino-hotel on Thursday.
Simpson, 60, has said he and other people with him were retrieving items that belonged to him. He told police no guns were involved.
Police said two firearms and other evidence were seized at a private residence early Sunday.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Arizona, was arrested Saturday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon.
O.J. Simpson arrested in Las Vegas robbery involving sports memorabilia
By RYAN NAKASHIMA, Associated Press Writer
September 16, 2007
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson was arrested Sunday, three days after police named him a suspect in an alleged armed robbery of collectors involving the former football great's sports memorabilia, authorities said.
Simpson was arrested shortly after 11 a.m., Capt. James Dillon said. Police were still determining charges.
Several police officers were seen entering the hotel where Simpson is staying. A security guard said police took Simpson out a side door shortly after they arrived.
At least one other person has been arrested and police said Sunday that as many as six people could be arrested in connection with the alleged armed robbery that occurred in a room inside the Palace Station casino-hotel on Thursday.
Simpson, 60, has said he and other people with him were retrieving items that belonged to him. Simpson has said there were no guns involved and that he went to the room at the casino only to get stolen mementos that included his Hall of Fame certificate and a picture of the running back with J. Edgar Hoover.
Simpson told The Associated Press on Saturday that he did not call the police to help reclaim the items because he has found the police unresponsive to him ever since his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, were killed in 1994.
"The police, since my trouble, have not worked out for me," he said, noting that whenever he has called the police "It just becomes a story about O.J."
The Heisman Trophy winner, ex-NFL star and actor lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife and Goldman were killed in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges, but a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Police said two firearms and other evidence were seized at a private residence early Sunday.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Arizona, was arrested Saturday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon.
Besides the two firearms, police said they seized other evidence during early morning searches of two residences, Nichols said.
"It was evidence of a crime that was committed," Nichols said. "And I believe we recovered some clothing that the individual was wearing in the commission of the robbery."
Simpson said auction house owner Tom Riccio called him several weeks ago to say some collectors were selling some of his items. Riccio set up a meeting with collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying Simpson's items.
Simpson said he was accompanied by several men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and they took the collectibles.
Alfred Beardsley, one of the sports memorabilia collectors involved in the alleged robbery, has said he wants the case dropped and that he's "on O.J.'s side.
Sep 17, 11:17 AM EDT
O.J. Simpson held without bail in Vegas
By RYAN NAKASHIMA
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- An apparent audiotape of O.J. Simpson's standoff with men he accused of stealing his memorabilia begins with the ex-NFL star demanding, "Don't let nobody out of here."
"Think you can steal my s--- and sell it?," the voice identified as Simpson's said.
Simpson was arrested Sunday and booked on charges connected with what police described as a robbery at a Las Vegas hotel. In the audiotape released Monday by the celebrity news Web site TMZ.com, a man believed to be Simpson is heard shouting questions while other men yell orders to the people in the room.
The recording was made by Thomas Riccio, co-owner of the auction house Universal Rarities, according to TMZ. Simpson has said Riccio called him several weeks ago to tell him collectors were selling some of his items.
Riccio did not immediately return a call for comment Monday, but he told TMZ he believed Simpson was planning to confront Alfred Beardsley, who was allegedly planning to auction off the memorabilia.
Another collector in the hotel room, Bruce Fromong, said the meeting was set up as if the men were customers, but when they arrived, it was clear something else was going on.
"The door burst open and they came in almost commando style, O.J. Simpson and some of his people, I guess you would call it, with guns drawn," Fromong told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday. "O.J. at that time was saying, 'I want my stuff. I want my stuff.'
"The thing in my mind as soon as I saw him, I'm thinking, 'O.J., how can you be this dumb? You're in enough trouble.'"
Fromong said Simpson later left him a voice mail message telling him some of Fromong's things were "mixed up" with his and asking how he could give them back.
"It's like a bad dream," Beardsley said. "I'm sad that O.J. is in custody."
Simpson has said he was accompanied by men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and that they took the collectibles.
It was merely a confrontation with no guns, Simpson said. He said autographed sports collectibles, his Hall of Fame certificate, a photograph with former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and video from his first wedding were all his, and that they were stolen from him and were about to be fenced by unethical collectors.
The items likely belonged to Simpson at one point, Fromang said, "but these were things that belonged to him a long time ago."
Police said they weren't sure who now owned the memorabilia.
"Whether or not the property belonged to Mr. Simpson or not is still in debate," Lt. Clint Nichols said Sunday. "Having said that, the manner in which this property was taken, we have a responsibility to look into that, irregardless of who the property belonged to."
After being whisked away in handcuffs, Simpson was booked Sunday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary with a firearm, police said.
The district attorney said he expected Simpson to ultimately be charged with seven felonies and one gross misdemeanor. If convicted, Simpson could face up to 30 years in prison on each robbery count.
A judge ordered Simpson held without bail, and a court date was set for Thursday.
Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said Monday he hoped to get Simpson released before then.
"Mr. Simpson is not guilty of these charges," Galanter said. He declined to say whether he had met with police and prosecutors.
"We believe it is an extremely defensible case based on conflicting witness statements, flip-flopping by witnesses and witnesses making deals with the government to flip," Galanter said Sunday.
Beardsley blamed the incident on Riccio, who he claims told Simpson that his property was in the room in Las Vegas.
"If they don't charge Riccio I will be very upset. That guy lied to O.J. and got him all pumped up," he said.
Simpson, 60, told the AP that he didn't call the police to help reclaim the items because he has found the police unresponsive to him ever since his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were killed in 1994. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges but found liable in a wrongful death civil trial.
"The police, since my trouble, have not worked out for me," Simpson said.
Police said they had no information to indicate Simpson was armed during the hotel confrontation last week. Fromong also said Simpson was unarmed: "Never at any time was I ever, did I feel threatened by O.J.," he said.
Police seized two firearms believed to involved in the robbery along with sports memorabilia, mostly signed by Simpson. They also said they recovered collectible baseballs and Joe Montana cleats at private residences early Sunday after serving three search warrants.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., was arrested Saturday night on two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon. Alexander, who was described as one of Simpson's golfing buddies, was released without bail Saturday night.
Robert Dennis Rentzer, a Los Angeles lawyer representing Alexander, said he was able to arrange his client's release but wasn't familiar with the allegations.
Police are seeking four other men: Las Vegas residents Clarence Stewart, 53, and Michael McClinton, 49; Tom Scotto, of unknown age and hometown, and another man who was not identified.
Simpson, a Heisman Trophy winner and actor, lives near Miami and has been a tabloid staple since his ex-wife and Goldman were killed.
Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, welcomed the possibility that Simpson could go to prison.
"How wonderful," he told CBS's "The Early Show" Monday. "A lot of years too late, however. I would have much preferred him found guilty of Ron and Nicole's death and then put either to death or in jail then. But frankly to see him ultimately or potentially go to jail - that's great."
Simpson's arrest came just days after the Goldman family published a book that Simpson had written under the title "If I Did It" about how he would have committed the killings of his ex-wife and Goldman had he actually done it.
After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family, who retitled it "If I Did It: The Confessions of the Killer." During the weekend, the book was the hottest seller in the country, hitting No. 1 on Amazon.com.
Associated Press Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Simpson, accusers have storied past
Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2007 08:29 AM
LAS VEGAS -- When the sports memorabilia collector called police to report that he had been robbed at gunpoint in a casino hotel room, he knew exactly who to point them toward.
It wasn't because O.J. Simpson was once one of the most recognizable men in America: a former football star who was at the center of the "Trial of the Century" in the slayings of his ex-wife and a friend.
Alfred Beardsley and the other men trying to sell some of Simpson's memorabilia to someone described as a private collector were well-acquainted with the man who barged into the room.
At least one had considered him a close friend. One had been his licensing agent. Another had long profited from Simpson's fame.
But times have changed.
On Saturday, Las Vegas police were questioning one of the three or four men who was thought to have accompanied Simpson to the hotel room, Lt. Clint Nichols said. No arrests had been made and police were still trying to determine what took place before Simpson left the room with memorabilia he says was stolen from him. Police think a weapon was involved and they want to review hotel surveillance tapes to help sort it out.
What became a bit more clear was the on-again-off-again nature of the relationships between the fallen sports stars and the memorabilia collectors.
Beardsley appeared to have gone from a Simpson defender and ally to someone "sympathetic" with the families of the people Simpson was accused of killing, an attorney for the family of Ron Goldman said.
Another sports collector, Bruce Fromong, once testified for the defense in the civil trial brought by the families of Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. Now Fromong says Simpson robbed him and Beardsley at gunpoint in a room at an older hotel off the Las Vegas Strip.
Simpson says he was just trying to retrieve memorabilia, particularly photos of his wife and children. There were no guns, he told The Associated Press. There was no break-in, he says.
The man Simpson accused of stealing the items from him is Mike Gilbert, another one-time associate. As Simpson's licensing agent in the late 1990s, Gilbert admitted snatching Simpson's Heisman Trophy and other items from his client's Brentwood home as payment for money he said was owed to him. He later turned the items over to authorities, save the trophy's nameplate.
Gilbert swore he'd go to jail before turning the nameplate over to the Goldman family, which was trying to collect on the $33.5 million civil judgment it won against Simpson. Gilbert later surrendered it under court order.
He apparently remained tight with his client through the ordeal.
"It has absolutely not affected our relationship at all," Gilbert said in October 1997.
Since then, according to Simpson, their relationship has changed. Simpson told AP he believes Gilbert stole items from a storage locker once held in Simpson's mother's name.
Attempts to reach Gilbert by phone were unsuccessful.
Simpson said he expected to find the stolen items when he went to an arranged meeting in the Palace Station hotel room Thursday.
The man who arranged the meeting, according to Simpson, was another man who makes a living on the fringes of the celebrity.
Thomas Riccio, a well-known memorabilia dealer, made headlines when his auction house, Corona, Calif.-based Universal Rarities, handled the eBay auction of Anna Nicole Smith's handwritten diaries.
Simpson said Riccio called him a several weeks to inform him that people "have a lot of your stuff and they don't want anyone to know they are selling it," Simpson said.
Along with the personal photos, Simpson expected to find one item in particular: the suit he was wearing when he was acquitted of murder charges in 1994.
It's not clear where they got the suit, but Beardsley, a former real estate agent and longtime Simpson collector, and Fromong had been trying to sell it for several months. They'd recently tried eBay and the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com.
Goldman family attorney David Cook said Beardsley called him several times with the hopes of arranging a deal.
"When I spoke with him, my impression was that he was very sympathetic to the Goldmans," Cook said.
That's not the position Beardsley, who once tried to arrange lucrative autograph signings for Simpson, took in 1999, before a major auction of Simpson's sports collectibles, including his Heisman.
"It bothers me that I'm putting money in the Goldman and Brown pockets," Beardsley told the AP. "I believe he's not responsible for this crime, and I think there are a lot of people who believe that."
It was perhaps such statements that made it hard for Simpson to believe that Beardsley and Fromong were now attempting to profit off his personal items.
In an interview with TMZ.com, Beardsley noted that during the alleged hold up in the hotel room Simpson appeared surprised the pair were the ones selling the items.
"Simpson was saying that 'I liked you, I thought you were a good guy,'" Beardsley said.
By late Friday, there were signs the relationship between the collectors and the celebrity might be shifting once again. Beardsley said he had spoken with Simpson since the incident. He called to apologize, Beardsley said.
As questions swirled around the curious cast of characters and their mysterious meeting, media scrutiny and public interest that has dogged the fallen athlete was in full swing.
By Saturday afternoon, Simpson's new book, "If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer," was the top seller on Amazon.com.
None of the men will profit from the book's sales. After a deal for Simpson to publish it fell through, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the book's rights to the Goldman family.
A good question? Are the Clark County cops, Las Vegas PD, and Las Vegas Metro cops shaking down OJ to help the Goldman family shake down OJ for the money? The whole thing sounds like a setup from the begining!
Goldmans seeks memorabilia linked to Simpson arrest
Jeremiah Marquez
Associated Press Writer
Sept. 18, 2007 12:00 AM
LOS ANGELES - If the Goldman family has its way, it may soon own the sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson is accused of committing armed robbery to recover for himself. One man charged along with the former football star said Tuesday that the Las Vegas hotel room dispute seemed like a setup.
Walter Alexander, 46, said Simpson may have been tricked because the memorabilia dealer who tipped him off also recorded everything on tape.
"It sounds like a setup to me," Alexander told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday. He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer.
"He did believe that he was going to retrieve his own property," Alexander said.
One of the memorabilia dealers who spoke publicly about the incident on Monday and described Simpson and a group of men coming into the hotel room "commando style" was hospitalized later that day with chest pains, a staff member at Century City Doctors Hospital said Tuesday.
Bruce Fromong was transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the staff member said, declining to give her name. A Cedars-Sinai spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a call seeking information about Fromong's condition.
Simpson was being held without bail Tuesday in Clark County Detention Center on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon.
Witnesses and authorities have said that they don't believe Simpson had a gun but that some of the men with him did. If convicted, Simpson could receive up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count.
The Heisman Trophy winner has been in and out of the spotlight since he was acquitted of murder in the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
The Goldman family, which won a civil verdict against Simpson, has waged a decade-long campaign to track down and claim his assets to fulfill the civil verdict. It planned to file a request in Superior Court on Tuesday to obtain ownership of the sports memorabilia seized.
David Cook, an attorney for Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, said he believed Nevada authorities would turn over the items with a court order after Simpson's criminal case finishes. The items include Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate, a gold Rolex watch and the suit Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted, Cook said.
"Assuming that this case is resolved one way or another, at the end of the case, the stuff will never go back to Mr. Simpson," Cook vowed. "He's going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed."
Another man suspected in the alleged heist surrendered Monday. Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, lived at one of the residences that police searched early Sunday to recover some of the memorabilia.
Stewart turned over some of the missing goods, including footballs bearing autographs, police said. He was being held on six felony charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
A fourth man, Tom Scotto, was questioned and cleared of suspicion after police concluded he was not in the room, reducing the number of outstanding suspects to two, police said. Both were apparently seeking attorneys and preparing to surrender, police said.
Alexander, who faces charges almost identical to Simpson's, said he went to Las Vegas for a wedding and not to see Simpson. "I just happened to get caught up in a bad situation," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Simpson's arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer, said he was preparing a bond motion and will ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance.
"If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now," he said.
"You can't rob something that is yours," Galanter said. "O.J. said, You've got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.' "
The Goldmans hope the property never finds its way back to Simpson.
In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica returned $33.5 million in judgments against Simpson in a wrongful-death lawsuit by the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.
The jury awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Ron Goldman's estate and a total of $25 million in punitive damages, divided equally between both estates. Despite extensive court hearings, however, most of the judgment has remained unpaid.
In 1999, seized personal property was auctioned off, raising only $430,000, more than half of it from the sale of his Heisman Trophy. The house itself did not generate anything toward paying the judgment. A bank foreclosed on the home, put it up for auction and bought it back.
Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled in connection with any money the Goldmans say Simpson earned from a video game featuring his likeness.
Legal experts question fairness of treatment given to Simpson
By Ryan Nakashima
The Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2007
LAS VEGAS - News conferences, a slew of felony charges, a walk in handcuffs and detention in a holding cell without bail - it's clear authorities aren't giving O.J. Simpson any celebrity breaks.
Police insist such treatment is prudent for a man whose name is synonymous with a slow-speed chase from officers in a white Ford Bronco. But legal experts are questioning whether Simpson is being singled out for extra-tough prosecution in the casino-hotel robbery case as payback for his murder acquittal more than a decade ago.
``It is regrettable that America has not gotten over the O.J. Simpson criminal case,'' said Carl Douglas, who was co-counsel with Johnnie Cochran in Simpson's 1995 criminal trial.
``The fact that he is being held without bail seems unfair and over the top,'' Douglas said. ``O.J. has always been able to satisfy his obligations to the court. He cooperated with the authorities in this case. He is not a flight risk. And he certainly can't hide anywhere.''
At least six plainclothes policemen, accompanied by a handful of hotel security guards, arrested Simpson on Sunday at The Palms casino-hotel. He was accused of leading an armed heist of sports memorabilia. Simpson said he was only reclaiming possessions that had been stolen.
``By our standard, there was no major show of force,'' Sgt. John Loretto said.
Simpson was handcuffed and taken in a police vehicle to the Clark County Detention Center to be booked on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. If convicted of the charges, he could get up to 30 years in state prison on each robbery count alone.
Simpson became inmate number 2648927.
Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith, who made the decision to hold Simpson without bail, was ``concerned about the flight factor'' and because Simpson had no ties to the Las Vegas area, said Judge Nancy Oesterle, who addressed reporters on Monday.
Arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, Simpson's lawyer, said he was preparing a bond motion and will ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance when he appears in court for his scheduled arraignment.
``If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now,'' he said.
Police said they were giving Simpson no special treatment - other than keeping him separated from the rest of the general prison population for his own protection.
In June 1994, Los Angeles police gave Simpson a day and a time to turn himself in to face allegations he had killed ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. It was a courtesy, said then-prosecutor Marcia Clark, often extended to celebrities or those with no criminal record.
Instead, Simpson jumped in an SUV, apparently with a loaded gun and ready to commit suicide, and led police and media helicopters on a dramatic, televised chase before surrendering.
``The Bronco chase was a nightmare,'' said Clark, now a special correspondent for ``Entertainment Tonight.'' ``Certainly he has abused that courtesy, so I would not expect anyone to extend it to him again.''
In a clear misstatement, Capt. James Dillon said Friday at a news conference that, because Simpson was involved, police were being extra careful to conduct ``a thorough, biased and competent investigation.''
But some think it might have been more than a slip of the tongue.
Jerry Reisman, a New York lawyer who represented O.J. Simpson in the early 1990s in business and real estate matters, said the public and law enforcement ``are looking for some sort of conviction for those who want justice for Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. Everyone wants to be the one that gets him.''
Experts also raised questions about the decision to release a man who police said carried a gun in the alleged holdup of two collectors at a Palace Station casino hotel room.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., was released without bail, despite facing charges almost identical to Simpson's. Legal experts said that may indicate his testimony could be key to convicting Simpson.
An apparent audiotape of O.J. Simpson's standoff with men he accused of stealing his memorabilia includes the former NFL star declaring ``Don't let nobody out of here.'' Later, Simpson reportedly defended his actions, saying ``Everybody knows this is stolen stuff. It's stolen stuff that's mine. Nobody was roughed up.''
A big hurdle for prosecutors also will be determining who owned the memorabilia - everything from cleats worn by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, to autographed baseballs, and Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate.
Bruce Fromong, one of the sports memorabilia dealers who said he was robbed, told ABC's ``Good Morning America'' on Monday that the items did not belong to Simpson.
``If you're asking did they once belong to him, yes, they did,'' Fromong said. ``But these were things that belonged to him a long time ago.''
Interesting! The LA Times says OJ has been busted but NOT charged with ANY crimes! I am sure this means the LVPD, LV Metro and Clark County Sheriff Office don't have any probable cause to either arrest OJ or charge him with a crime!
Recording amplifies the drama
By Miguel Bustillo, Ashley Powers and Scott Glover, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 18, 2007
LAS VEGAS -- A celebrity website released a recording Monday that appears to capture an agitated O.J. Simpson shouting expletives and threatening sports memorabilia collectors in a hotel room here last week as he tried to take back mementos he claimed were his.
"Think you can steal my [property] and sell it?" a man believed to be Simpson angrily says on the audio obtained by TMZ.com after it was surreptitiously taped by Thomas Riccio. The auctioneer arranged for Simpson to meet with the men, who reportedly were trying to sell his mementos.
The recording appears to capture a far more menacing confrontation than the one Simpson, 60, described in interviews after the Thursday incident.
Las Vegas authorities, who are holding Simpson on suspicion of armed robbery and other charges, said they could not confirm whether the recording was authentic.
But one of the two sports memorabilia dealers who was in the hotel room with Riccio when Simpson allegedly burst in with an armed entourage said that it sounded like what he witnessed.
"It's definitely audio from that room, though I'm not sure if it has been edited," said Alfred Beardsley, a Burbank collector who said he was trying to broker a sale for the man in possession of the items, collector Bruce Fromong.
After learning of Riccio's recording Monday, Beardsley accused Riccio of setting up the confrontation for personal gain.
"Riccio said he had a guy who was just a huge, huge O.J. fan, who wanted anything he could get. I now see that I was brokering a deal with someone who didn't exist. It was an O.J. sting," he said. "It was a robbery; the [men] came in with guns. I feel bad because I could have gotten Bruce killed."
Riccio -- a Corona-based auctioneer who recently was involved in selling the diaries of the late Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith to a German businessman for $500,000 -- said Monday that he hid a recording device in the room at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino because he wanted evidence that Beardsley and Fromong were trying to sell stolen merchandise.
"I wanted it on tape in case [Beardsley] denied it when O.J. came in," Riccio said.
He added that the device was still rolling when police conducted interviews in the room after the incident.
Simpson has said he was trying to recover memorabilia from his professional and college football days, as well as personal photos, that he said had been stolen by a former agent.
Riccio insinuated he had given the recording to TMZ.com, but was evasive when asked whether he had been compensated for it. He said he mailed a copy to Las Vegas police on Sunday.
"They should have it soon," he said.
Riccio -- who promoted a 2005 event where Simpson sold autographed football jerseys on the 10th anniversary of his acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman -- has been involved in questionable collectible dealings himself, records show.
He was convicted in 1994 of receiving stolen goods after trying to sell some rare Latin American coins in Glendale.
A Miami dealer had reported the coins stolen from him at a collectibles show in Long Beach. Riccio was sentenced to three years in prison and forced to pay the dealer $165,000 in restitution.
Fromong could not be reached Monday for reaction on the release of the audio recording.
But in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," he said he could not believe what he was seeing when Simpson came into the hotel room with armed men.
"As soon as I saw him, I'm thinking, 'O.J., how can you be this dumb?' " Fromong said, adding that Simpson and his companions entered the hotel room with guns drawn, "almost commando style."
Simpson was in Las Vegas to serve as best man in the casino chapel wedding of a close friend, Thomas Scotto, 45, of Miami, according to marriage license records.
Scotto was among the men named by police in connection with the crime, but he was not arrested.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Arizona, was arrested but was released Sunday without bond after speaking with prosecutors. His attorney said Monday that Alexander had not cut any deals with prosecutors, and was unclear whether he would be a government witness in any trial.
A third man, Clarence Stewart, 54, of Las Vegas, was arrested Monday in connection with the case, police said.
Since Simpson's arrest Sunday, he has been held without bail in a 7-by-14-foot cell with one bunk bed, a toilet, a desk and a window, officials said. He has been visited by several lawyers and a minister, who brought a Bible, the book "The Purpose-Driven Life" and two pairs of reading glasses.
Simpson cannot be held longer than 72 hours without being formally charged, said Clark County Judge Nancy C. Oesterle, who was assigned Monday to field questions from the growing media circus assembling in Las Vegas.
Court officials said formal charges could come today.
Powers reported from Las Vegas, Bustillo from Houston and Glover from Los Angeles.
A good questions is this a set up by Thomas Riccio to screw OJ?
Thomas Riccio is the guy who set this up for OJ. Thomas Riccio is also the quy who recorded the meeting. Now Thomas Riccio wants to help the cops prosecute OJ with the tape. But Thomas Riccio will only do it if the cops will not prosecute him. Sure sounds like a setup.
Vegas Cops Don't Have O.J. Tape -- Yet
Posted Sep 18th 2007 10:25AM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, O.J.
Las Vegas authorities do not have the audio tape of the confrontation that led to Simpson's arrest, but it's coming soon.
Thomas Riccio, an auctioneer who recorded the tape, tells TMZ that last night, his lawyer negotiated immunity with the Las Vegas District Attorney. Riccio's lawyer wanted to make sure his client would not be prosecuted as part of the team that allegedly robbed two men.
Riccio recorded 20 hours of tape, including conversations with Simpson, as well as interviews with cops after the incident. Riccio's lawyer wanted to make sure the D.A. would not go after Riccio for possible illegal recording, though Riccio says nothing was illegally recorded.
As to whether O.J. knew he was being recorded, we now have an answer. He didn't. Riccio did it of his own accord, placing the recorder on a piece of furniture when it all went down.
Riccio says the initial plan of confronting Alfred Beardsley, a sports memorabilia dealer, was hatched by O.J. and he simply went along with it. Riccio says the plan was to create a phantom buyer of Simpson memorabilia, enter the room and give Beardsley two options -- either return the goods to Simpson or O.J. would call the cops. Riccio says he was stunned that it went down differently.
Riccio says when his lawyer gets written confirmation of the immunity deal, he'll pop the entire 20 hours of conversation in a FedEx box, probably sometime today.
Sep. 18, 2007
Media swarm buzzes around jail scene
By LAWRENCE MOWER REVIEW-JOURNAL
Got a tip? To contact a reporter on this story, e-mail policebeat@reviewjournal.com or call the City Desk at 383-0264.
Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren, left, interviews Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle in front of the Clark County Detention Center on Monday night for Van Susteren's TV news show, "On the Record." Photo by Ralph Fountain.
Is O.J. Simpson the biggest story out of Nevada in nearly 30 years?
Not yet.
But the former football player has the potential to become the biggest story out of the state since a fire tore through the MGM Grand in 1980, killing more than 80 people, state archivist Guy Rocha said.
"If O.J. Simpson gets convicted and goes to prison, this story's going to be big," he said. "Big, big, big. People don't forget O.J. Simpson."
At the moment, Rocha said, Simpson's arrest hasn't assumed the epic proportions of Nevada's biggest stories: the MGM fire; the 1910 "fight of the century" between boxers Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries in Reno; the 1942 plane crash and death of actress Carole Lombard outside Las Vegas; and the 1960 arrest in Las Vegas of ex-convicts Perry Edward Smith and Richard Eugene Hickock, made infamous by Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood."
At the moment, it's only a story that temporarily has captivated the nation. But for Las Vegans, even those accustomed to the frequent Sin City stories that make national headlines, the media frenzy is unprecedented.
"Oh, my God, in my 17 1/2 years (as a judge) I've never seen anything like this," Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle said.
"This makes the (Ted) Binion case look like small potatoes."
Simpson's arrest and the ensuing attention from national media has drawn many comparisons to the murder of the late casino mogul Binion and the ensuing trials. But that story doesn't stack up, according to the person tasked with coordinating the circus, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer.
Nor do any of the other stories to come out of Las Vegas since he took the job in 2001.
When the Review-Journal caught up to him about noon Monday at a cafe near the courthouse, Sommermeyer was twitching his leg nervously as he wolfed down a sandwich.
His day started at 6:30 a.m. Monday. An hour later, his phone started ringing and didn't stop for an hour and a half, he said.
By noon, he had amassed more than 100 e-mails from national media. The answering machines for his cell phone and office phone had filled up. Another official at the courthouse even lent Sommermeyer his personal secretary to help handle the load.
By early afternoon, his fax machine had more than 15 media requests to cover Simpson's first appearance in court tomorrow. Reuters, The Associated Press, "Entertainment Tonight," CNN and "People Magazine" were just a few of them.
"This is the biggest case I've ever worked," he said.
Sommermeyer also is coordinating the appearances of Oesterle, who has been dubbed the media's official contact for a possible Simpson trial, and Justice of the Peace Tony Abbatangelo on the television news shows.
A swarm of media vans, reporters and cameramen have descended upon downtown Las Vegas, taking up sidewalk space, parking illegally and racking up numerous parking citations.
"Every O.J. story has a bizarre twist to it," said Van Susteren, who taped "On the Record" last night in front of the Clark County Detention Center. "Why better for it to happen in the city that never sleeps?"
Van Susteren was perhaps the biggest name hovering around the detention center Monday, aside from the outcast former football star inside.
News crews have claimed prime public real estate along the streets and sidewalks surrounding the county jail and the Regional Justice Center.
"I saw it build up," said a baggy-eyed Mike Kellogg, a freelance MSNBC cameraman from Phoenix who drove up Sunday night.
He had staked out a great spot by 2 a.m. Monday, one with a clear, shady view of the detention center, from where he watched the throng of television reporters from around the country jostle for sidewalk space around him.
Several vans were from local news affiliates from Los Angeles, where residents are still captivated by Simpson and the 1994 trial that made him infamous, according to NBC News Channel reporter Jinah Kim, who arrived with a camera crew on Friday.
"Most of us covered O.J." and his trial, she said. "When we heard O.J.'s in trouble again, it had a bit more significance."
Nevada has had its share of big national stories, said Rocha, who has been witness to many of them and has researched a lot of the others.
Hoover Dam. Howard Hughes. The death of rapper Tupac Shakur. Polygamists. Mobsters. Murderers.
Depending on what happens in the next few weeks, the state could also lay claim to another immortal story: the conviction of O.J. Simpson.
"This one's big," he said. "This one's big and could get bigger."
Review-Journal writer Beth Walton contributed to this report.
Sep. 17, 2007
O.J. SIMPSON ARRESTED
Ex-NFL star suspected of holdup role
By FRANCIS McCABE
O.J. Simpson supporter Wan Ali holds a sign Sunday outside the Clark County Detention Center. Ali said he came from Los Angeles to show support for the former football star, who was arrested and booked on robbery, burglary and other charges. Photo by Ronda Churchill.
O.J. Simpson's long fall from grace now includes a Sin City swan dive.
The football legend was arrested Sunday on multiple felony charges in connection with the armed holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers Thursday at Palace Station.
Las Vegas police picked Simpson up about 11 a.m. at the Palms, where he had been staying while in town for a friend's wedding.
There was no white Ford Bronco this time. No police pursuit on the freeway. No holding a gun to his head.
"He cooperated. It was without incident," said Capt. James Dillon, head of the Robbery/Homicide Bureau.
Simpson immediately invoked his right to a lawyer, Dillon said.
The 60-year-old Heisman Trophy winner spent several hours with detectives before they walked him to a vehicle waiting to take him to the Clark County Detention Center. Wearing silver handcuffs and a smirk, Simpson said nothing as he walked past the throng of media cameras gathered in the parking lot outside the detective bureau.
He arrived at the county jail at about 5:15 p.m. in an unmarked police vehicle with tinted windows. Inside he was frisked, fingerprinted, photographed and assigned inmate No. 2648927.
Simpson was booked on charges including burglary with a firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, and two counts each of robbery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 106 years.
He was being held without bail in a jail isolation cell until his first court hearing Thursday.
Outside the jail in downtown Las Vegas two supporters cheered the former football star.
Wan Ali came from Los Angeles to offer moral support. He held a sign that said "Free O.J." and cheered and called out to Simpson as the unmarked police car drove into the jail.
"It's all about hanging around the right people," Ali said, adding that Simpson was probably just caught up with the wrong crowd. Ali said he planned on renting a room and staying in Las Vegas "til it's over."
Police said Simpson directed the Thursday evening raid on the hotel room where sports memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong were robbed at gunpoint. Simpson did not use a gun himself, police said.
The men rushed into the room when one said that he was a cop and that the two dealers would be "dead if they were in L.A.," Dillon said.
The men also patted the victims down looking for weapons. Police do not think any of the men involved are or were police officers, "but they gave that impression," Dillon said.
Fromong, who lives in North Las Vegas, said he had more than $75,000 in memorabilia taken by the robbers, including six or seven footballs and three plaques related to Simpson, with items signed by Joe Montana and baseball greats Duke Snyder and Pete Rose.
Simpson told The Associated Press that he went to the room and took the memorabilia because it had been stolen from him. He denied any guns were involved.
Both collectors had a history with Simpson. Fromong was once a business partner who helped sell merchandise for Simpson, and Beardsley is a longtime collector who owns the suit Simpson wore for the verdict at his murder trial.
Detectives slowed their investigation after learning of the connections, but an anonymous phone call put the investigation at full speed.
The tipster told investigators that Walter Alexander, a 47-year-old from Mesa, Ariz., was involved in the robbery and at McCarran International Airport waiting for a flight Saturday night.
Alexander never made that flight. Police found him and brought him in for questioning. Detectives soon learned details of what happened inside the room.
Dillon said Alexander brandished a gun during the robbery.
Alexander gave police a statement, but only after his lawyer, Robert Rentzer, negotiated an "non-use proffer" that prevents authorities from using any of the statement against Alexander, the Los Angeles lawyer said.
Rentzer said he negotiated his client's release on his own recognizance.
Alexander has not agreed to cooperate with authorities in the future, although that could be a possibility, Rentzer said.
Alexander was scheduled to meet Rentzer today in Los Angeles to discuss the case and legal strategy.
"I told prosecutors we're not going to agree to a plea bargain at this point," Rentzer said. "I may not plea bargain at all if I feel he has a strong case."
Alexander faces robbery, assault, conspiracy and burglary charges.
District Attorney David Roger, who said he is personally handling the Simpson case, said he agreed to the release "for strategic reasons."
With information from Alexander, detectives drew up three search warrants and served them late into Saturday night.
The searches uncovered two guns that detectives think were used in the robbery, Lt. Clint Nichols said. Investigators also recovered items taken during the robbery, including memorabilia signed by Simpson, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana's cleats and clothes worn by the suspects, Nichols said.
Police were searching Sunday night for the other four men alleged to have been involved.
Dillon named three of them Sunday: Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, and Thomas Scotto of Miami. Simpson was in Las Vegas for Scotto's wedding, Dillon said. Except for one minor matter, the suspects have avoided trouble with the law, Dillon said.
"Most of them are clean," he said. "They look like Joe Citizen."
The fourth man was unidentified.
One of the homes searched Saturday was McClinton's. A neighbor on Villa Pintura lane, near Grand Teton and Durango drives, said he hadn't seen McClinton for a few days.
Dillon said the investigation is far from over, though many of the detectives involved have had little or no sleep in the past four days.
"This investigation is still dynamic and still ongoing," Dillon said. "We have a lot of work to do."
Part of the investigation will focus on Thomas Riccio, a California auction house owner who arranged the meeting at Palace Station. Police were considering charges against Riccio, Dillon said.
Riccio, who has made headlines for selling Anna Nicole Smith's diaries, did not return a phone message left at his house Sunday by the Review-Journal.
Police said they are trying to determine how long Simpson schemed with his cohorts about taking the sports memorabilia.
"The longer they planned the more serious the consequences will be," Dillon said.
Simpson attorney Yale Galanter told The Associated Press late Sunday that he would fight the charges vigorously.
"We believe it is an extremely defensible case based on conflicting witness statements, flip-flopping by witnesses and witnesses making deals with the government to flip," Galanter said.
Peter Haven, a lawyer for the Goldman family, noted the irony that Simpson could go to prison for the Palace Station incident after being acquitted of murder charges in the double slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman.
He compared Simpson to infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone, who led a murderous criminal empire but went to prison only after being convicted for tax evasion.
"In the end, it's strange how the wheels of justice work and turn," Haven said. "They seem to be working, albeit slowly, toward the justice that has been evaded."
The Goldmans wanted Simpson punished to fullest extent of the law, Haven said.
"It's a wonderful state," Haven said.
"I hope he (Simpson) gets to know it well."
8 counts carry a maximum total of 106 years in prison:Review-Journal writers Brian Haynes and David Kihara contributed to this report.2-15 YEARS EACH + 1-15 YEARS EACH
Two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, felony. With enhancement for deadly weapon1-6 YEARS EACH
Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, felony1-6 YEARS
Conspiracy to commit robbery, felony2-15 YEARS
Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, felony1-6 YEARS + 1-6 YEARS
Coercion with use of a deadly weapon, felony. With enhancement for deadly weapon1 YEAR
Conspiracy to commit a crime, gross misdemeanorO.J. SIMPSON'S RECENT RUN-INS WITH THE LAW
Sunday: O.J. Simpson was arrested on felony charges related to what authorities describe as an armed robbery at a casino hotel room involving sports memorabilia. Police said charges include robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a firearm. Simpson told The Associated Press he went to the room to get memorabilia that was stolen from him.
July 4, 2005: A neighbor who went to Simpson's suburban Miami home to help jump-start his girlfriend's car ended up calling police to report a fight. Police showed up, but no charges were filed.
March 8, 2004: Satellite television network DirecTV Inc. accused Simpson in Miami federal court of using illegal electronic devices to pirate its broadcast signals. The El Segundo, Calif.-based company later won a $25,000 judgment, and Simpson was ordered pay $33,678 in attorneys' fees and costs.
Jan. 18, 2003: Police said they arrived at Simpson's Florida home after his teenage daughter placed an emotional 911 call after an argument with her father. Sydney Simpson, then 17, was crying when she asked police to help in what she termed "an abuse thing." When they arrived, the teen said she and her father got into an argument over family issues. No charges were filed.
Nov. 22, 2002: Simpson paid a $130 fine for speeding through a Florida manatee zone in a 30-foot powerboat on the Fourth of July. An arrest warrant was briefly issued.
Oct. 24, 2001: Simpson was cleared of all charges in a Florida case involving an alleged road-rage incident.
Oct. 3, 1995: Simpson was acquitted of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. He later was found liable for their deaths in a civil case and ordered to pay $33.5 million.
Sep 19, 4:33 PM EDT
O.J. Simpson released from Vegas jail
By KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson was released from jail Wednesday after posting bail in connection with the armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel.
Simpson, wearing a light blue sport coat and dark blue pants, carried a black bag as he strolled to a gray sedan with his lawyer and drove away from the Clark County Detention Center.
He did not speak to reporters or to at least one bystander who cheered.
Another spectator shouted, "Justice for Nicole, justice for Ron," as Simpson walked to the car - a reference to Simpson's acquittal in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson's lawyer has said he expected the former football star to return to his Florida home.
Simpson, who spent three nights in the Las Vegas jail, was freed about two hours after appearing in court, where a justice of the peace set his bail at $125,000.
Also Wednesday, a key witness in the case was arrested in Las Vegas for a parole violation.
Alfred Beardsley, 46, was arrested by a fugitive task force at the Luxor hotel and casino, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Beardsley is one of the two sports memorabilia collectors accusing Simpson and other men of barging into a hotel room and stealing autographed footballs.
Authorities said Beardsley was wanted on a California warrant for a parole violation. He was jailed pending extradition to California.
Earlier in court, Simpson did not enter a plea but said he understood the charges against him, including first-degree kidnapping, which carries the possibility of life in prison with parole.
He answered quietly in a hoarse voice and nodded as Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr. laid out restrictions for his release, including surrendering his passport to his attorney and having no contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses.
Unlike his arraignment over a decade ago in the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend, when Simpson declared he was "absolutely 100 percent not guilty," he was subdued throughout the proceeding Wednesday.
"Mr. Simpson do you understand the charges against you?" the judge asked.
"Yes, sir," said Simpson, wearing a blue jail uniform and handcuffs.
Attorney Yale Galanter said Simpson would plead not guilty.
Simpson posted bond through the "You Ring We Spring Bail Bonds" company, said bondsman Miguel Pereira, who drove Simpson's relatives and girlfriend to and from the courthouse in a black SUV.
Pereira said he wasn't nervous about accepting the bond, which can cost between 10 and 15 percent of the $125,000. The company is responsible for ensuring Simpson attends court hearings.
"He's not a flight risk. I have a gut feeling and I'm good at my job," Pereira said.
Security at the courthouse was tight for the arraignment hearing. People entering the courtroom were screened by security officers and Las Vegas police with bomb-sniffing dogs.
The case has attracted a swarm of media, including Marcia Clark, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson for the 1994 murders and was reporting for "Entertainment Tonight."
Simpson, 60, was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into his hotel room at the Palace Station casino and took several items that Simpson claimed belonged to him. He has been held since then in protective custody in a 7-foot-by-14-foot cell.
The Heisman Trophy winner was charged with kidnapping, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, coercion with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Authorities allege that the men went to the room on the pretext of brokering a deal with two longtime collectors, Beardsley and Bruce Fromong. According to police reports, the collectors were ordered at gunpoint to hand over several items valued at as much as $100,000.
Beardsley told police that one of the men with Simpson brandished a pistol, frisked him and impersonated a police officer, and that another man pointed a gun at Fromong.
"I'm a cop and you're lucky this ain't LA or you'd be dead," the man said, according to the report.
"One of the thugs - that's the best thing I can call them - somebody blurted out 'police!' and they came in military style," Beardsley said Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show. "I thought it might have been law enforcement or the FBI or something because I was ordered to stand up, and I was frisked for weapons."
"At no time did Mr. Simpson hold any type of firearm at all," he said.
Beardsley also cast doubt on the authenticity of a recording of the confrontation made by Tom Riccio, the man who arranged the meeting between Simpson and the two collectors. Riccio reportedly sold that tape to celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com.
"I do not believe that these tapes are accurate," Beardsley said. He said information was missing and the recordings should be professionally analyzed.
"Simpson confronted me, saying 'Man what's wrong with you, you have a turn-over order, you have a turn-over order for this stuff, man,'" Beardsley said, but he said that part wasn't on the tapes.
The Los Angeles Times reported that court records show Riccio has an extensive criminal history from the 1980s and '90s, including grand larceny in Florida, possession of stolen goods in Connecticut and receiving stolen property in California. According to the newspaper, Riccio acknowledged his past in a telephone interview late Tuesday.
Riccio said he was not concerned with how his past might affect his credibility "because everything's on tape. That's why it's on tape."
He also said he had been promised some form of immunity by prosecutors.
The memorabilia taken from the hotel room included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100,000.
Although Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman, a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit and ordered him to pay a $33.5 million judgment. On Tuesday, a California judge gave a lawyer for Goldman's father a week to deliver a list of items Simpson was accused of taking from the hotel room, raising the possibility that they could be sold to pay off the judgment.
"He's ordered to pay us millions of dollars," Goldman's sister, Kim Goldman, said Wednesday on NBC. "If he went to Vegas to go collect on those things so we wouldn't, there's some irony in that."
She also said she felt some satisfaction with Simpson's arrest.
"I'm not going to lie to you, I do feel a little bit of elation to see him in handcuffs," she said. "I hope that in some way the pressure that we put on him for the last 13 years drove him to this."
Two other defendants, Walter Alexander, 46, and Clarence Stewart, 53, were arrested and released pending court appearances. Stewart turned in some of the missing goods and Alexander agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, authorities said. A fourth suspect, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, surrendered to police Tuesday.
Police were seeking two other suspects, whom they had not identified.
September 19, 2007 - 12:55PM Simpson’s ties with ex-Mesa pal soured Gary Grado, Tribune
O.J. Simpson and Mesa resident Walter Alexander met on a golf course and discovered they had more in common than just a love for the game.
Alexander’s uncle was the godfather of Simpson’s first child, who drowned in a Rockingham mansion pool in 1979, Alexander’s attorney, Robert Rentzger, said Tuesday.
The fallen football star’s friendship with the Mesa real estate agent lasted from just after Simpson’s wrongful death trial in 1997 until a few years ago, when Simpson made a snide remark while refusing to help Alexander financially, Rentzger said.
Their coincidental reunion came at a Las Vegas wedding — and now they are linked to the incident that may land Simpson in prison.
Simpson, Alexander and two other men have been charged in connection with the robbery of collectors of sports memorabilia.
Police said men with guns stormed a hotel room on Thursday, and took several items connected with Simpson’s pro football career.
But Simpson has said there were no weapons, and that he went to the room at the Palace Station to retrieve stolen memorabilia.
Simpson is being held in a Clark County jail without bail and has an arraignment scheduled for today. Alexander was arrested and released on his own recognizance.
Alexander has given interviews since the incident thrust him into the limelight, but Rentzger said he is no longer talking with news media because one publication took his statements out of context and portrayed him in a bad light.
No one answered the door at his Mesa home on Tuesday.
He has said in previous interviews that he believes Simpson was set up in his most recent legal problem. In 1995, a jury acquitted Simpson of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
A civil jury later found him liable in their deaths and returned a $33.5 million judgment against Simpson, which has gone mostly unpaid.
According to Arizona Realtor records, Alexander has no disciplinary action and no open complaints. He worked at Arizona Real Estate and Loans Center in Mesa for two months, leaving on Aug. 31 and getting hired by American Allstar Realty in Mesa the same day.
Alexander also has no criminal record in Maricopa County. He obtained an order of protection against his girlfriend in January and later had it dismissed. He accused her of breaking a mirror in their home and provoking a fight in front of his children.
“I do not want her to come back and cause me to get in trouble with the law,” he wrote in the court document.
O.J. Simpson leaves jail, released on bail Associated Press Sept. 19, 2007 12:49 PM
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson was released from jail Wednesday after posting $125,000 bail in connection with the armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel.
Simpson, wearing a light blue sport coat and dark blue pants, carried a black bag as he strolled to a gray sedan with his lawyer and drove away from the Clark County Detention Center.
He did not speak to reporters or bystanders.
Simpson's lawyer has said he expected the former football star to return to his Florida home.
Simpson, who spent three nights in the Las Vegas jail, was freed about two hours after appearing in court, where he told a justice of the peace that he understood the charges against him, including first-degree kidnapping, which carries the possibility of life in prison with parole.
Earlier Wednesday, Simpson furrowed his brow as the judge read the list of charges against him. He stood in a blue jail uniform and handcuffs.
He answered quietly in a hoarse voice and nodded as Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr. laid out restrictions for his release, including surrendering his passport to his attorney and having no contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses.
Simpson did not enter a plea.
Unlike his arraignment over a decade ago in the 1994 killings of his ex-wife and her friend Ron Goldman, when Simpson declared he was “absolutely 100 percent not guilty,” he was subdued throughout the proceeding Wednesday.
“Mr. Simpson do you understand the charges against you?” the judge asked.
“Yes, sir,” Simpson responded.
Attorney Yale Galanter said after the hearing that the $125,000 bond was reasonable and had already been arranged for Simpson. He said Simpson would plead not guilty.
“He's relieved," Galanter said after bail was set. "This has been a very harrowing experience for him.”
Security at the courthouse was tight for the arraignment hearing. People entering the courtroom were screened by security officers and Las Vegas police with bomb-sniffing dogs.
The case has attracted a swarm of media, including Marcia Clark, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson for the 1994 murders and was reporting for “Entertainment Tonight.”
Simpson, 60, was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into his hotel room at the Palace Station casino and took several items that Simpson claimed belonged to him. He has been held since then in protective custody in a 7-foot-by-14-foot cell.
The Heisman Trophy winner was charged with kidnapping, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, coercion with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime.
“These are very serious charges,” Galanter said. “He is taking it very seriously.”
Authorities allege that the men went to the room on the pretext of brokering a deal with two longtime collectors, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong. According to police reports, the collectors were ordered at gunpoint to hand over several items valued at as much as $100,000.
Beardsley told police that one of the men with Simpson brandished a pistol, frisked him and impersonated a police officer, and that another man pointed a gun at Fromong. “I'm a cop and you're lucky this ain't LA or you'd be dead,” the man said, according to the report.
“One of the thugs — that's the best thing I can call them — somebody blurted out police!' and they came in military style,” Beardsley said Wednesday on NBC's “Today” show. “I thought it might have been law enforcement or the FBI or something because I was ordered to stand up, and I was frisked for weapons.”
“At no time did Mr. Simpson hold any type of firearm at all,” he said.
Beardsley also cast doubt on the authenticity of a recording of the confrontation made by Tom Riccio, the man who arranged the meeting between Simpson and the two collectors. Riccio reportedly sold that tape to celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com.
“I do not believe that these tapes are accurate,” Beardsley said. He said information was missing and the recordings should be professionally analyzed.
“Simpson confronted me, saying Man what's wrong with you, you have a turn-over order, you have a turn-over order for this stuff, man,'.” Beardsley said, but he said that part wasn't on the tapes.
The Los Angeles Times reported that court records show Riccio has an extensive criminal history from the 1980s and 90s, including grand larceny in Florida, possession of stolen goods in Connecticut and receiving stolen property in California. According to the newspaper, Riccio acknowledged his past in a telephone interview late Tuesday.
Riccio said he was not concerned with how his past might affect his credibility “because everything's on tape. That's why it's on tape.”
He also said he had been promised some form of immunity by prosecutors.
The memorabilia taken from the hotel room included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100,000.
Although Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in the deaths of his ex-wife and Goldman, a jury later held him liable for the killings in a wrongful death lawsuit and ordered him to pay a $33.5 million judgment. On Tuesday, a California judge gave a lawyer for Goldman's father a week to deliver a list of items Simpson was accused of taking from the hotel room, raising the possibility that they could be sold to pay off the judgment.
“He's ordered to pay us millions of dollars,” Goldman's sister, Kim Goldman, said Wednesday on NBC. “If he went to Vegas to go collect on those things so we wouldn't, there's some irony in that.”
She also said she felt some satisfaction with Simpson's arrest.
“I'm not going to lie to you, I do feel a little bit of elation to see him in handcuffs,” she said. “I hope that in some way the pressure that we put on him for the last 13 years drove him to this.”
Two other defendants, Walter Alexander, 46, and Clarence Stewart, 53, were arrested and released pending court appearances. Stewart turned in some of the missing goods and Alexander agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, authorities said. A fourth suspect, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, surrendered to police Tuesday.
Police were seeking two other suspects, whom they had not identified.
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson faces the following charges and possible penalties related to an alleged confrontation with sports memorabilia collectors at a Las Vegas hotel:
- Two counts of first-degree kidnapping, a felony, carrying the possibility of life in state prison or a definite term of 15 years, depending on the sentencing judge's discretion. Parole eligibility begins after five years.
- Two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, mandatory 2-15 years in prison, plus a possible additional 1-15 years for use of a weapon.
- Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, felony, 2-15 years.
- Coercion with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, 2-12 years in prison.
- Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, felony, 1-6 years.
- Conspiracy to commit kidnapping, felony, 1-6 years.
- Conspiracy to commit robbery, felony, 1-6 years.
- Conspiracy to commit a crime, gross misdemeanor, 1 year in county jail.
(Sources: Las Vegas Justice Court, Nevada Revised Statutes)
Sep. 20, 2007
O.J.'S COURT APPEARANCE: Simpson back in Florida
Ex-NFL star hears charges, posts bail of $125,000
On a whirlwind Wednesday that began with his court appearance in shackles, the infamous football great posted bail, walked out of jail and had flown home to Florida before the night ended. The departure ended O.J. Simpson's memorable visit to Sin City, which landed him back in the news and on the wrong side of the law.
At a news conference outside the courthouse Wednesday morning, Simpson's longtime lawyer said his client was looking forward to getting out of jail and heading home.
"He's extremely relieved. This has been a very harrowing experience for him," Yale Galanter said shortly after the hearing during which bail was set at $125,000.
Several hours later, Simpson emerged from a back door at the Clark County Detention Center, where he had spent the past three days since his arrest. Wearing a powder blue Damiani Italian suit that his family had delivered in court, Simpson ignored the media throng on the sidewalk and lumbered to a waiting silver Dodge sedan driven by Galanter. The car motored down Interstate 15 to the Palms while news helicopters stalked it from above.
After a short stop at the Palms, Simpson slipped out a back door and headed to McCarran International Airport, where police escorted him through the terminal and onto a plane bound for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Wayne Hipp was returning from a business trip near Dallas when he crossed paths with Simpson at the airport.
"That's all they're talking about in Texas is the O.J. arrest in Las Vegas," he said.
Simpson boarded his U.S. Airways flight ahead of other passengers and was in the air by 4:30 p.m.
Simpson might be gone for now, but he will be back to face the robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy charges filed against him in connection with a sports memorabilia heist a week ago at Palace Station.
Authorities allege Simpson led a group of six men that burst into a hotel room and robbed two memorabilia collectors at gunpoint. They took footballs signed by Simpson and other collectibles, including lithographs of fellow NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana, authorities said.
North Las Vegas resident Bruce Fromong, who owned the memorabilia, told police he went to the hotel to meet a potential buyer. The second collector, Alfred Beardsley, of Burbank, Calif., had called Fromong at the request of Thomas Riccio, a California auction house owner who said he had arranged the meeting so that Simpson could reclaim his property.
Fromong and Beardsley both said they were set up.
One of the latest twists in the case was Beardsley's arrest Wednesday morning at his Strip hotel room.
California authorities are alleging Beardsley's recent trips to Las Vegas violated the conditions of his parole.
Beardsley was paroled in March 2006 after serving 11 months for stalking a woman, authorities said.
Also Wednesday morning, Las Vegas police made a fifth arrest in Simpson's case when Charles Cashmore turned himself in. One more suspect remained free, but police expected him to surrender soon.
Cashmore and co-defendant Michael McClinton were scheduled to appear in court this morning, most likely without the fanfare that surrounded Simpson's appearance at the Regional Justice Center on Wednesday.
The reporters from CNN, Fox News Channel and dozens of media outlets who descended on Las Vegas in the past week didn't come here because of those other guys. They came for Simpson, who ignited a media firestorm during his 1995 trial in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. Simpson was acquitted of murder, but a civil jury found him liable for the slayings and awarded $38 million to the victims' families.
Many familiar faces from the first Simpson trial appeared in Las Vegas Justice Court on Wednesday morning.
Greta Van Susteren, who became a household name during the first trial as a CNN legal analyst, sat in the front row of the courtroom, this time as a talking head for Fox News Channel.
One row back sat Marcia Clark, the former Los Angeles County prosecutor who led the double-murder trial. She is a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.
The reporters packed into the courtroom studied Simpson as he emerged from a side door about 8:20 a.m., wearing the standard-issue navy blue jail uniform, bright orange sandals and handcuffs shackled to his waist.
He said little during the 10-minute hearing, flinching as each charge was read.
"Mr. Simpson, do you understand the charges against you," Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure asked.
"Yes, sir," a somber Simpson replied.
District Attorney David Roger, who is personally handling the case, announced an agreement with Simpson's lawyers to set bail at $125,000.
As a condition of bail, Simpson had to surrender his passport to his lawyer within 24 hours and not contact any victims or witnesses in the case.
Simpson supporters, including his girlfriend, Christine Prody, his daughter, Arnelle Simpson, and his sister, Mattie Baker, watched the proceedings in silence.
The hearing had started with an explanation about why Bonaventure was presiding. Reporters had expected Justice of the Peace Ann Zimmerman to handle the case, but minutes before the hearing a bailiff removed her nameplate from the bench and replaced it with Bonaventure's.
The judge said the change was the result of a clerical mix-up involving case numbers. The district attorney's office had filed for a case number Friday, but when police made two arrests, including Simpson's, over the weekend, they received new case numbers that tracked the cases to Zimmerman's court.
On Monday prosecutors filed charges under the original case number, which already had been assigned to Bonaventure. Court officials apparently did not realize the error until Wednesday morning.
That wasn't the only controversy with the case. In court and at the news conference, Galanter lashed out at local lawyers who had been on national television claiming they represented Simpson. They had made the claim based on "bogus papers" filed with the clerk's office, and Galanter promised to take "professional action" against the unnamed lawyers.
Las Vegas attorney Scott Holper had appeared on Fox News Channel and CBS-TV's "Early Show" as Simpson's lawyer.
Holper defended himself Wednesday, saying that he was contacted by a Simpson cousin and that Galanter knew he was involved.
"If this guy wants to throw down and take it to the state bar ... he's met his match," Holper said. "I'll sue him for potential slander and libel, and I have attorneys who will do it for free."
At the news conference, Galanter praised Roger's professionalism and said the bail amount was fair.
Simpson posted bail through You Ring We Spring Bail Bonds, said Miguel Pereira, a bondsman with the company. He declined to say who posted the bail or how much money was involved, but people typically post just 15 percent of bail to get free, he said.
Pereira, who drove Simpson's family and girlfriend to and from the courthouse, said they were friendly and glad Simpson was being released from jail.
"You couldn't ask for more," he said.
A status check hearing was scheduled for Oct. 22. Defendants do not usually attend such hearings.
Galanter said he hoped people will not judge his client based on his past.
"The O.J. Simpson murder case involved very, very strong feelings," Galanter said. "I am a creature of the criminal justice system. ... I believe in the system. The system found him not guilty. In the eyes of the law, that is the only thing that matters."
Review-Journal staff writers K.C. Howard, David Kihara and Carri Geer Thevenot and columnist Norm Clarke contributed to this report.
It was a real circus out there
Queen, chicken and some nuts join frenzy
There was the woman handing out bottles of orange juice, shouting "Free O.J."
Then there was the man in the chicken suit, waving the "Jail -- not bail" sign.
It was, according to Houston tourist Susanne Buttram, "one of those things that you'll never get to see again."
Which is why she joined her husband and dozens of spectators, who were joining a throng of journalists 100 strong, to create the spectacle that was O.J. Simpson's bail hearing.
Simpson's first appearance in court Wednesday drew self-promoters, protesters and a few nuts to a Las Vegas downtown already turned into a parking lot for media satellite vans.
They provided plenty of fodder for the reporters, cameramen, producers and photographers recording Simpson's greatest turn in the spotlight since a California jury acquitted him of double-murder charges in 1995.
A swarm of cameramen converged on the "O.J. Queen," who wouldn't provide her real name, when she rolled a plastic cart in front of the courthouse and started passing out bottles of orange juice while shouting, "Free juice! Free The Juice!"
A few even took the free juice.
Jake Byrd, a 28-year-old man who said he took a bus up from Chino, Calif., on Tuesday night, appeared to be just another obnoxious "celebrity fan" outside the courthouse. But Byrd had made a name for himself on the late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live," crashing celebrity media events and news conferences.
Byrd stood beside Simpson's attorneys when they addressed the media after the hearing, shouting every few minutes.
Two people came dressed as cavemen to promote a show at the Golden Nugget. Others held up signs supporting their Web sites.
Garren Cone, who flew to Las Vegas from Florida on Tuesday night, arrived at the courthouse with an armload of white T-shirts bearing the slogan "Get Arrested in Las Vegas, Stay in Vegas" and a photo illustration of Simpson behind bars.
Cone, 45, was asking for donations, saying any money would be given to Las Vegas police.
"The entire world is watching," he said. "I wanted to put on a shirt what everyone in the world is thinking."
One man, who gave his name only as "Chicken George," chose to spend his day off from work dressed in a chicken suit and waving anti-Simpson signs.
Taking a break from the action, the 45-year-old convention worker crossed the street in front of the courthouse, removed his chicken mask and had a smoke.
As he puffed, he said, "I'm the chicken outside as they deal with the chicken inside."
Review-Journal writer David Kihara contributed to this report.
Sep 22, 4:26 PM EDT
O.J. plan quickly unraveled
By CHELSEA J. CARTER Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Standing in a casino hotel room, a fallen football hero played out the final scene of a sting operation to seize prized possessions from his glory days.
But his plan, plotted against the backdrop of a quickie Las Vegas wedding, was suddenly going bad.
There was a gunman impersonating a police officer. Men were screaming at each other. And the prized possessions were being stuffed into pillow cases and cardboard boxes.
In a city where casino heists and celebrity spawn images of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack and George Clooney flicks, the caper allegedly orchestrated by O.J. Simpson has the glint of Sin City's seedy underside - with shadowy figures and deals gone bad.
Based on a review of police reports and interviews with Simpson, sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, police investigators, prosecutors and other authorities involved in the case, the day unfolded in the following manner:
It began with a phone call, police and those involved say, from an auctioneer with a colorful past, an ex-con known for auctioning Anna Nicole Smith's diaries.
Thomas Riccio had helped arrange autograph signings for Simpson. And he knew Simpson believed a former associate had stolen many of his pro football belongings and personal items, such as family pictures and a suit Simpson wore the day he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Sports memorabilia dealers were peddling some of the items, Riccio told Simpson. He faxed a list of items and offered to help Simpson get them back.
The timing couldn't have been better: Simpson was headed to Vegas as best man at a friend's wedding.
Make the call, Simpson said.
Riccio called Beardsley, an ex-con who by his own account helped Simpson make money with autograph signings and simultaneously profited off his infamy.
Beardsley recalled Riccio telling him: "I have a client, a big O.J. Simpson fan, who wants to buy a lot of Simpson memorabilia." He had no idea it was Simpson.
Beardsley then, according to police, turned to Bruce Fromong, an expert in Simpson memorabilia who testified for Simpson at his wrongful death civil trial.
Fromong had sold Beardsley the so-called acquittal suit and Beardsley offered it to the Goldman family, which has been working for years to collect the $33.5 million wrongful death judgment. They passed on the offer.
Simpson rated little special attention when he arrived at the Palms on Sept. 12 with his longtime girlfriend, Christine Prody, a woman who bears a likeness to his slain ex-wife.
They checked into a $250-a-night, 550-square foot "King Jr." room in the Palms tower rather than the more upscale, Fantasy Tower. Compared to the $40,000-a-night Hugh Hefner Sky Villa, it was no-frills. He was no longer a hot celebrity like some other players at the hotel.
Most of the wedding party was staying at the Palms, but one out-of-towner, Walter Alexander, was staying elsewhere. He and Simpson were mutual friends of the groom, Thomas Scotto, but hadn't talked in years, recounted Alexander's lawyer, Robert Rentzer, who once represented Rodney King.
Alexander, 46, and Simpson had once been golfing buddies, and had a unique link: Alexander's uncle was the godfather of a child from Simpson's first marriage, Aaren, who died as a baby in a swimming pool accident.
The two had a falling out after Simpson refused to help Alexander pay for his father's funeral several years ago.
"O.J. says something like, 'Everybody wants a piece of me,' and didn't offer him a dime to help throw the funeral," Rentzer said.
On Sept. 13, though, Alexander accepted Simpson's invite to visit. "You don't hold a grudge forever," said Rentzer.
As Simpson tells it, he asked Alexander for help in a plan unfolding across town at a lower-end casino hotel.
While Simpson prepped at the Palms, Riccio waited in the lobby of the Palace Station, a one-time bingo hall, for Fromong and Beardsley to arrive.
The two men brought the Simpson memorabilia, along with other items - Joe Montana lithographs and Pete Rose autographed baseballs.
They shook hands, and headed to Fromong's car to take stock of the goods.
Footballs, baseballs, plaques, various documents and three ties that Simpson was said to have worn during his "Trial of the Century" were in the trunk, according to police arrest reports.
Riccio got a bellman to cart the items to a small ground-floor room he had reserved.
The memorabilia was laid out on the bed and around the room.
Beardsley snapped a few pictures of the display with his cell phone camera.
Then Riccio got a call. His client had arrived.
Simpson had a problem, he would later tell The Associated Press. He didn't have a car in Las Vegas, and would have to take a taxi to the Palace Station, a couple miles away.
That meant he had no way to get the items back to his hotel. And with the room number Riccio had given him, 1203, which he mistakenly believed was on the 12th floor, he would need help carting out his belongings.
Alexander, as Simpson told The AP, agreed to put together a crew with a truck to help.
But when it came time to go, two of the men were running late, and they had to scramble to find others.
By the time they pulled into the parking lot at the Palace Station that evening, the crew of four - Simpson, Alexander and the two helpers - had grown to six when the two stragglers showed up.
It was more help than Simpson wanted or needed.
But he was there, and he wanted his stuff back.
In the lobby, Riccio met Simpson, Alexander and the crew identified as Michael McClinton, 50, Clarence Stewart, 45, Charles Cashmore, 40, and Charles Ehrlich, 53.
Riccio was hit by questions: Are Fromong and Beardsley in the room? Do they have the goods? Does anybody in the room have a gun?
From here, the story becomes murky, depending who tells it.
Simpson either wanted to confront Fromong or Beardsley in the room, or he wanted to wait in the lobby while two of the men went to scope out the loot; Simpson either knew that some of the men with him were armed, or he didn't.
But authorities say they know this:
- Riccio led Simpson and company through the hard light of the hotel hallways to room 1203 where Riccio opened the door.
- Fromong heard the door open and turned to see men rushing in.
- At least one man, possibly two, Fromong and Beardsley say, pointed guns at them and pushed them against a wall to search for weapons.
According to the police report, one man snarled at Beardsley: "I'm a cop and you're lucky this ain't L.A. or you'd be dead."
The original plan had begun to spiral out of control.
"You think you can steal my ... and get away with it?" Simpson yelled.
Fromong, who either was pushed or fell over a chair during the initial confrontation, pleaded with Simpson, telling him that he had purchased the items from Simpson's former sports licensing agent.
"How could you do this?" Simpson screamed at him.
He ordered Beardsley to pack up the items belonging to him that were scattered around the room. Beardsley, perhaps frozen by fear, didn't move from a chair. Simpson then ordered the men with him to gather the belongings, which were put in a cardboard box and a pillow case taken from the bed.
"I thought you were my friends" Simpson screamed at Beardsley.
Simpson took Fromong's cell phone.
"I'll leave it at the front desk," he yelled as he left.
As Beardsley grabbed his phone and dialed 911, Simpson finally got a look at the items in the parking lot.
There were no pictures. No family photos. No acquittal suit. Nothing really personal other than the three ties. There were none of the big-ticket items, other than Simpson's All-American football, from the list of items Riccio faxed him.
There in a parking lot, with the city's flickering neon lights brightening the night sky, Simpson stood nearly empty-handed, his plan in shambles.
That, however, would be the least of his problems.
The police would soon come calling, and his mug shot would be splashed across newspapers and television screens. Simpson would be arrested and charged with armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges that carried the possibility, once again, that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Associated Press writers Ryan Nakashima, Kathleen Hennessey, Ken Ritter and Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
Sep. 23, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MEMORABILIA: Simpson befuddles collectors
Dealers say sales already slow, items in robbery worth little
By ADRIENNE PACKER
An autographed photo of O.J. Simpson from his days at USC was among Simpson items Bruce Fromong offered for sale on eBay.
The eBay Web page of Bruce Fromong, one of the men involved in the O.J. Simpson memorabilia incident, shows Fromong is hawking for $109.99 a Buffalo Bills helmet Simpson signed in jail.
Don't be surprised if the orange boxers O.J. Simpson wore during his brief stay at the Clark County Detention Center appear on eBay. But buyers beware: The underwear might not be worth much.
Few O.J. items are, according to collectors of sports memorabilia.
In fact, collectors were puzzled by the list of memorabilia that Simpson sought when he barged into a Palace Station hotel room with gun-toting accomplices Sept. 13.
Simpson and his cohorts were arrested and face a variety of charges including kidnapping in connection with taking what one victim claims was $75,000 in memorabilia.
Simpson spent four days in jail before he was released Thursday on $125,000 bond.
"In reading the various news reports, the officials in our hobby were confused by the description of what was there," said Thomas O'Connell, editor of Sports Collectors Digest. "It didn't jump off the page as something worth risking your freedom for."
When Mastro Auctions President Doug Allen heard of the break-in, he assumed Simpson was going after valuables such as his Heisman Trophy or his championship ring. Then he read the list of items.
"From the junk I saw, it's not very valuable at all," Allen said.
When Las Vegas police revealed that two dealers staying at the hotel were prepared to sell Simpson memorabilia, many sports fans wondered: Is there really a demand for O.J. Simpson items?
Opinions vary on whether collectors still seek memorabilia signed by Simpson and, if so, why they do it.
Bradford Winslow, assistant manager of Field of Dreams in the Caesars Forum Shops, said few memorabilia enthusiasts who drop by his store inquire about O.J. Simpson collectibles. And those who do, he said, are usually being facetious.
"Before this recent incident, over the past year and a half I've had a few requests for some of his items, but only a few," Winslow said, noting that many football enthusiasts are after items signed by Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady or Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning.
When a customer asks if he has O.J. memorabilia, Winslow doesn't even need to check his stock. The answer is no.
Field of Dreams, owned by the Florida-based Dreams Inc., does not sell memorabilia related to controversial figures. The store stopped offering Simpson items after he was acquitted of murder charges in 1995.
Simpson is not the only athlete shunned by the store. When Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was indicted on dog-fighting charges, Field of Dreams pulled his items, even though Vick had autographed some at the store just months before.
But Winslow isn't concerned about losing money by not selling Simpson memorabilia.
"His signature even after the earlier incident, it hasn't been real popular," Winslow said. "I would suggest that his value has dropped from that moment."
Although Winslow said his store distances itself from controversial figures, it has a contract with baseball legend Pete Rose, who has been locked out of the Hall of Fame because he admitted betting on baseball games while he was a player and manager.
"He bet on baseball. You can't compare betting on baseball with killing dogs or killing people," Winslow said.
Still, some collectors are interested in a piece of the Juice.
"It can be a conversation piece whether you like him or hate him," said Steve Zurita at The Sports Shop in The District at Green Valley Ranch. "If he dies, the value would go up. All memorabilia goes up when you die."
Some sports junkies collect Simpson's memorabilia because they believe his items will increase in value. Others simply want a piece of history.
Allen, president of the Chicago-based Mastro Auctions, said Simpson's game-worn jerseys will always be valuable, although the price tag plummets with each of Simpson's run-ins with the law.
A University of Southern California jersey worn by the Heisman Trophy winner was once worth about $20,000. Now it might fetch $8,000, according to Allen.
"The reality is, he was one of the best backs to ever step on a football field," Allen said. "His game-used jersey, as despicable a person as he is, is going to be valuable."
A decrease in value of memorabilia is expected when any athlete becomes controversial.
When San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds knocked home run No. 756 out of the ballpark, surpassing Hank Aaron's long-standing home-run record, few could guess how much that ball might fetch.
Bonds is suspected of using steroids, which taints the value of the ball and the record.
Fashion designer Mark Ecko paid $752,467 for Bonds' ball, a far cry from the $2.7 million Todd McFarlane paid for Mark McGwire's single-season record 70th home run ball.
At the time, McGwire was not suspected of using steroids. In 1999, McFarlane called the ball an "unmatched piece of sports memorabilia." But since McGwire declined to answer questions about steroid use at a congressional hearing, his popularity has gone the way of a sinker ball.
"If they resold Mark McGwire's ball, it would be worth as much as the coffee cup sitting on my desk," Allen said. "Well, it would go for less than $100,000."
So what about those orange boxers? "I wouldn't be the one to ask," O'Connell said.
Different breeds of memorabilia collectors exist. Some display their goods in stores such as Field of Dreams. Others shop their memorabilia around using different venues, such as hotel rooms.
Backroom dealers hawk "game-worn" jerseys or autographed photos that have not been authenticated.
For example, dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, the men involved in the Simpson confrontation, possessed the dress suit that Simpson wore when he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman. The suit means little without an authenticity certificate.
O'Connell said respectable collectors work hard to maintain a positive image and promote the trade as a family hobby. That's why many collectors keep their distance from notorious characters such as Simpson.
"These kinds of things don't help," O'Connell said of the incident involving Beardsley and Fromong.
According to Fromong's eBay Web site, interest in his O.J. items is not overwhelming.
Fromong is hawking for $109.99 a Buffalo Bills helmet that O.J. Simpson signed while in jail. The highest bid on Friday afternoon was $15.
Other eBay sellers aren't having much better luck. One seller hopes to collect $395 for a 1970 plastic O.J. Simpson cup signed by the Juice. The highest bid was $14.95. Sixteen months' worth of tapes of Simpson's trial on murder charges is offered for $500. The highest bid? Ten bucks.
There is little doubt that more Simpson items will appear at memorabilia shows and auction sites because of the latest charges filed against the 60-year-old, O'Connell said. But those items won't likely make anyone a millionaire.
Although some amateur collectors might want Simpson memorabilia for the sake of owning a piece of history, few are willing to put up the big bucks to get it.
"They'll be upping the supply at what seems like a good time, but there are a lot of decent collectors that simply won't have anything to do with him, and that's going to limit the demand," said O'Connell, who believes Simpson's autograph could still be worth $50 or $60.
"There is a curiosity. They'll be on eBay and they'll sell, but things won't change dramatically as far as our hobby.
"As far as O.J., he's been a cooked goose."
Sep. 23, 2007
Robbery tapes given to police, lawyer says
Man who arranged hotel meeting for Simpson cooperating, attorney says
By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
A key witness has turned over hours of audio recordings in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery and kidnapping case, the witness's lawyer said Saturday.
Attorney Ryan Okabe said Tom Riccio, who arranged a meeting between Simpson and two sports memorabilia dealers in a Palace Station hotel room, gave several recordings he had at his Los Angeles home to police Friday. Okabe would not confirm what was on the recordings.
A television news crew videotaped police detectives carrying black plastic bags of evidence from Riccio's house, but detectives would not discuss the investigation. A Las Vegas police spokesman did not return a call for comment.
"Whatever Mr. Riccio has, the police have," Okabe said. "He's cooperating fully and completely with the Las Vegas police department and the district attorney's office."
Riccio planted a recording device in the hotel room where Simpson and a group of associates are alleged to have held up two memorabilia dealers at gunpoint Sept. 13. He then leaked audio of the incident to the gossip Web site TMZ.com.
The recording and the leak led some to accuse Riccio of "setting up" Simpson.
Okabe said Saturday that his client recorded the meeting because he didn't trust one of the memorabilia dealers involved, Alfred Beardsley, and often recorded his dealings with him.
"Mr. Riccio has been burned by Alfred Beardsley in the past. Whenever he dealt with him, he recorded it, for his own protection," Okabe said, declining to describe Riccio's past business deals with Beardsley.
Both men frequently trade in Simpson memorabilia, and both have served prison time for felonies.
Beardsley, 46, was being held without bail in a Las Vegas jail Saturday, after being taken into custody Wednesday for a parole violation out of California.
Beardsley and dealer Bruce Fromong claim Simpson and a group of men barged into the hotel room and demanded they turn over autographed footballs and other items. Two of the men had handguns, police said.
Riccio said he arranged the meeting between the dealers and a "private collector," without letting on that the collector was Simpson and that he planned to seize the items. Simpson has said he believes they were stolen from him.
Riccio has said he did not know Simpson would show up at the hotel with a crew of five men and did not know the men would have weapons.
This is the bad thing about plea bargains, they are often abused. I suspect they told this guy if they didn’t help them send OJ to prison for life they would send him to prison for life. Then they offered him a cushy deal of no prison time if he gives testimony that damages OJ. I suspect they want to hang OJ by the b*lls and send him to prison for the rest of his life, because they think he got away with murder in the Nicole case in Los Angeles.
Maybe OJ got away with murder, maybe he didn’t. I don’t know. Although I suspect the LAPD did try to frame OJ, although that doesn’t mean he didn’t commit the murder.
Oct 13, 11:49 AM EDT
Simpson case co-defendant to enter plea
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Accused of being one of five men who joined O.J. Simpson in a hotel-room confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers, Charles Cashmore will plead guilty to a reduced charge and testify that guns were involved in the theft of sports collectibles.
Cashmore will testify that two of the other men who entered the room with the former football star were armed, his lawyer, Edward Miley, said Friday. Miley said Cashmore will plead guilty to being an accessory to robbery, a felony that could get him up to five years in prison.
A court hearing is set for Monday, a court clerk confirmed.
"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Miley said of Cashmore, a 40-year-old laborer, bartender and disc jockey who lives in Las Vegas.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger declined to comment.
Simpson and the others are charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy in the Sept. 13 encounter in a Las Vegas casino hotel room between Simpson and memorabilia collectors Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.
Simpson also faces a felony charge of coercion, alleging that he took a cell phone from Fromong.
Simpson has said he wanted to retrieve personal items that belonged to him, and his lawyers have maintained that no guns were used.
But Cashmore will testify that Walter Alexander and Michael McClinton, two men who entered the room with Simpson, had guns, Miley said. Miley said Cashmore was unarmed during the alleged robbery.
"The only people with guns that he knew of were Alexander and McClinton," Miley said, adding that Cashmore's crime was failing to immediately go to police and turn over the items he carried out of the room.
Cashmore surrendered to authorities six days later and turned over the items, after police released images from hotel security videotapes showing him carrying a box from the room.
Lawyers for Simpson, McClinton and most of the others did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Alexander's lawyer, Robert Dennis Rentzer, declined to say whether Alexander had a gun in the room.
"I owe the district attorney an answer to that question before the press," he said. Rentzer said he was scheduled to meet with Roger on Monday, but he expressed doubt Cashmore could say Alexander was armed.
"How can he put a gun in the possession of someone who didn't have a gun out?" Rentzer said.
Miley said Cashmore met Simpson and most of the others in the group for the first time minutes before the alleged robbery.
"O.J. says, 'Hey I've got to move some stuff, can you help?'" Miley said.
Armed robbery case defendant to testify against O.J. Simpson
The Associated Press
Oct. 15, 2007 08:07 AM
LAS VEGAS - A co-defendant in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case told a judge Monday he would plead guilty to a felony and testify against Simpson and four others in the hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers.
The plea agreement with Charles Cashmore, 40, of Las Vegas ups the ante in the prosecution of Simpson. Cashmore can testify that guns were involved in the Sept. 13 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas casino hotel room, his lawyer said.
Simpson and his lawyers have denied guns were in the room.
"In District Court, he'll be pleading guilty to accessory to robbery," Clark County District Attorney David Roger told the judge. "He's agreed to provide truthful testimony."
Procedurally, Cashmore waived his preliminary hearing. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr., set arraignment for Oct. 23.
Simpson and the others, Walter Alexander, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, Michael McClinton, and Charles Ehrlich, are due in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 8 and 9. Bonaventure will decide then whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial in state court.
Mesa defendant among 2 to testify against O.J. Simpson
Associated Press
Oct. 15, 2007 11:13 AM
LAS VEGAS - A second co-defendant in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case said Monday that he will plead guilty to a reduced charge and testify against Simpson and four others in the alleged hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., told a judge he will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, a felony. He could face between one and six years in prison.
Outside the courtroom, Alexander and his lawyers declined to say what testimony he will provide.
Earlier Monday, Charles Cashmore, 40, of Las Vegas, told the same judge that he would plead guilty to a felony and testify for the prosecution.
The plea agreements up the ante in the prosecution of Simpson. Cashmore can testify that guns were involved in the Sept. 13 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas casino hotel room, his lawyer said.
“He can establish who was in the room, what was said, who had guns, who didn't have guns, potentially who may have seen guns, who didn't see guns,” attorney Edward Miley said outside court. “I think he wishes he would have never met O.J.”
Simpson and his lawyers have denied guns were in the room at the Palace Station hotel-casino. His lawyers did not respond Monday to requests for comment.
Both Alexander and Cashmore waived their preliminary hearings. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr., set both men's arraignments for Oct. 23.
Cashmore faces up to five years in prison.
“In District Court, he'll be pleading guilty to accessory to robbery,” Clark County District Attorney David Roger told Bonaventure. “He's agreed to provide truthful testimony.”
Outside court, Cashmore said he thought he'd done the right thing, but declined additional comment. Cashmore was initially arraigned on nine felonies and a gross misdemeanor, charges that included kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. A kidnapping conviction alone could have resulted in a sentence of life in prison with parole.
Simpson and the others, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, Michael McClinton, and Charles Ehrlich, are due in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 8 and 9. Bonaventure will decide then whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial in state court. If asked, Cashmore will testify if asked at the preliminary hearing that Alexander and McClinton were armed when they entered the room with Simpson, Miley said.
Simpson claims at least some of the items taken from collectors Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong belonged to him, and his lawyers have maintained that no guns were used. Simpson and the others are charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy.
Cashmore was introduced to Simpson and most of the others in the group for the first time minutes before the alleged robbery, Miley said.
“He didn't know anyone. He didn't know what was going on,” Miley said. “He didn't have a gun.”
Cashmore, a journeyman laborer, bartender and disc jockey, surrendered to authorities six days after the encounter, and after police released images from hotel security videotapes showing him carrying a box from the room at the hotel.
Cashmore didn't look at everything in the box, but said some items included lithograph prints of football great Joe Montana, his lawyer said.
Cashmore should have immediately gone to the police and turned over the items he carried out of the room, Miley said. “He should have done something, but he didn't,” Miley said.
In 1996, he plea bargained a felony theft charge to a misdemeanor and received probation in an embezzlement case in Utah.
Alexander's lawyer, Robert Dennis Rentzer, declined to say whether Alexander had a gun in the room, but expressed doubt Cashmore could say Alexander was armed.
McClinton's lawyer, Bill Terry, did not respond to requests for comment.
Oct 15, 6:04 PM EDT
Co-Defendant to Testify Vs O.J., Others
By KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A second co-defendant in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery case said Monday that he will plead guilty to a reduced charge and testify against Simpson and four others in the alleged hotel room theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers.
Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., told a judge he will plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, a felony. He could face between one and six years in prison.
Outside the courtroom, Alexander and his lawyers declined to say what testimony he will provide.
Earlier Monday, Charles Cashmore, 40, of Las Vegas, told the same judge that he would plead guilty to a felony and testify for the prosecution.
"It's always a prosecutor's strategy to go after the little fish to get to the big fish," Cashmore's attorney, Edward Miley, said outside court. "In this, it seems to be that O.J. Simpson is the big fish."
The plea agreements up the ante in the prosecution of Simpson. Cashmore can testify that guns were involved in the Sept. 13 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas casino hotel room, his lawyer said.
"He can establish who was in the room, what was said, who had guns, who didn't have guns, potentially who may have seen guns, who didn't see guns," Miley said. "I think he wishes he would have never met O.J."
Simpson and his lawyers have denied guns were in the room at the Palace Station hotel-casino. His lawyers did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment.
Alexander and Cashmore waived their preliminary hearings. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure Jr., set both men's arraignments for Oct. 23.
Cashmore faces up to five years in prison.
"In District Court, he'll be pleading guilty to accessory to robbery," Clark County District Attorney David Roger told Bonaventure. "He's agreed to provide truthful testimony."
Outside court, Cashmore said he thought he'd done the right thing, but declined additional comment.
Cashmore was initially arraigned on nine felonies and a gross misdemeanor, charges that included kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy. A kidnapping conviction alone could have resulted in a sentence of life in prison with parole.
Simpson and the others, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, Michael McClinton, and Charles Ehrlich, are due in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 8 and 9. Bonaventure will decide then whether there is enough evidence to send the case to trial in state court on charges including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy.
McClinton's lawyer, Bill Terry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger declined comment outside court and has not outlined the prosecution's strategy.
If asked, Cashmore will testify if asked at the preliminary hearing that Alexander and McClinton were armed when they entered the room with Simpson, Miley said. He said Alexander's testimony could clarify Simpson's role.
"What Mr. Alexander, I'm assuming, will be able to say is who told them to bring firearms, what planning there was, and what was said and done after the fact," Miley said.
Alexander's lawyer, Robert Dennis Rentzer, expressed doubt Cashmore knew whether Alexander was armed.
Simpson claims at least some of the items taken from collectors Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong belonged to him, and his lawyers have maintained that no guns were used. Simpson and the others are charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, assault, burglary and conspiracy.
Cashmore was introduced to Simpson and most of the others in the group for the first time minutes before the alleged robbery, Miley said.
"He didn't know anyone. He didn't know what was going on," Miley said. "He didn't have a gun."
Cashmore, a journeyman laborer, bartender and disc jockey, surrendered to authorities six days after the encounter, and after police released images from hotel security videotapes showing him carrying a box from the room at the hotel.
Cashmore didn't look at everything in the box, but said some items included lithograph prints of football great Joe Montana, his lawyer said.
Cashmore should have immediately gone to the police and turned over the items he carried out of the room, Miley said. "He should have done something, but he didn't," Miley said.
In 1996, he plea bargained a felony theft charge to a misdemeanor and received probation in an embezzlement case in Utah.
Alexander's lawyer, Robert Dennis Rentzer, declined to say whether Alexander had a gun in the room, but expressed doubt Cashmore could say Alexander was armed.
McClinton's lawyer, Bill Terry, did not respond to requests for comment.
Looks like OJ is a Libertarian when it comes to paying taxes :) Libertarians think taxes are the same as stealing, so their is nothing wrong with cheating the tax man and refusing to pay your taxes.
California tax scofflaws include O.J., Sinbad
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:36 PM PDT, October 17, 2007
SACRAMENTO -- Tapping into the fear of public humiliation to get Californians to pay up on delinquent state income taxes, the state has released a list of California's 224 worst scofflaws, including celebrities Dionne Warwick, O.J. Simpson and comedian Sinbad.
The list was originally 250 people. But just the threat of their names going on a public website convinced 26 of the biggest tax scofflaws to agree to settle their bills, bringing in about $300,000 in payments so far, according to State Controller John Chiang.
"Unfortunately these 250 people have put themselves above the 14 million people who have done the right thing and paid their taxes," Chiang said today.
Although a bill approved by the state Legislature compelled the list to be released publicly on the website of the state Franchise Tax Board, Chiang said he supports the action and believes it will be effective in cases in which tax liens and warning letters have failed.
"Certainly people don't want the public embarrassment of being on the list," the controller said. "I wouldn't want to be on a list with O.J. Simpson."
The list says Orenthal Simpson of Miami, Fla., owes $1,435,484 in personal income taxes with a tax lien dating back to 1999.
Simpson, the former professional football player and actor, left California for Florida after he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her acquaintance.
SNIP
2 plead guilty in O.J. Simpson armed-robbery case
Associated Press Oct. 24, 2007 12:00 AM LAS VEGAS - Two co-defendants, one of them a Mesa man, pleaded guilty to reduced charges Tuesday in the O.J. Simpson armed-robbery case, agreeing to testify against Simpson and three others in the alleged theft of sports collectibles from two memorabilia dealers.
Behind the scenes, prosecutors prepared to file an amended criminal complaint increasing the number of charges in the case to 12, including a second felony charge of coercion against Simpson and two new coercion charges each against the three remaining co-defendants.
The new complaint also alleges Simpson and Charles "C.J." Stewart conspired to persuade others to tell authorities that no guns were used.
The revised document, obtained by the Associated Press, removes Walter Alexander of Mesa and Charles Cashmore from the case, while naming Thomas Riccio in the Sept. 13 meeting between Simpson and memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.
Riccio, who was given immunity from prosecution, is expected to join Cashmore and Alexander in testifying for the prosecution.
Alexander pleaded guilty to the felony of conspiracy to commit robbery.
The district attorney said he would seek a suspended sentence for Alexander, a golfing buddy of Simpson's. "I'm very much at peace at what I've done today and what I'm going to continue to do," Alexander said as he clutched a Bible outside court. "I'm not here to try to hurt or help O.J. Simpson. I'm only here to tell the truth."
If this article is true then OJ is not very bright! Getting his buddies to pull guns on people would seem like a crime, even if they had your stuff.
Also it gets at the problem with the plea bargin system. It seems like the prosecutor is giving everybody who has been accused of crimes in this case special deals so they can hang OJ who will probably not be given a plea bargin.
In reality the state is paying people (with a light punishment for their alleged crimes) to testify against OJ.
Would other witnesses who were not accused of crimes be honest and tell the truth if the state of Nevada offered to pay them $12,000 if they agreed to testify against OJ, and not to say anything that would help OJ.
The $12,000 number may sound high but really it is low. $12,168 is what a person would make in a year at the federal min wage which is $5.85.
Alexander could get 6 years, his deal to testify against OJ is worth $73,000 at min wage.
Cashmore could get 5 years, his deal to testify against OJ is worth $60,000 at min wage.
McClinton could get 11 years, his deal to testify against OJ is worth $133,000 at min wage.
Man accused of pulling gun takes plea deal in O.J Simpson case Associated Press Oct. 29, 2007 08:32 AM
LAS VEGAS - A man accused of pulling a gun as O.J. Simpson and others confronted two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room told a judge Monday that he'll accept a plea deal and testify against Simpson and two other men.
Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, became the third man to agree to plead guilty to reduced charges in the case.
He told Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure he will plead guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. He could receive probation or up to 11 years in prison.
According to police reports, McClinton brought two guns at Simpson's request to a Sept. 13 confrontation with collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley. McClinton wielded one gun and acted like a police officer, according to others in the hotel room.
McClinton's testimony would provide prosecutors with another account contradicting Simpson's claim that no guns were involved when he went to retrieve items he said belonged to him. In brief comments outside the courtroom, his lawyer, William Terry, wouldn't say what testimony McClinton would provide.
Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has criticized Clark County District Attorney David Roger for "giving away the courthouse" while cutting deals with co-defendants.
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich face 12 criminal charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion, and one gross misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime. A kidnapping conviction alone could result in a sentence of life in prison with parole.
Charles Cashmore and Walter Alexander have pleaded guilty to reduced charges and agreed to testify against the three men.
Alexander, a Simpson golfing buddy from Mesa, Ariz., told police that Simpson said to bring guns, and told him later to deny that guns were used. Alexander pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit robbery, and could face probation or up to six years in prison.
Cashmore, a union laborer from Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to felony accessory to robbery. He could receive probation or up to five years in prison.
Authorities say memorabilia taken from the hotel room included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider, photos of Simpson with the Heisman Trophy, and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100,000, according to police reports.
FBI knew of O.J. Simpson plan in advance
By LINDA DEUTSCH and KEN RITTER, Associated Press Writers 54 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - Federal agents learned three weeks in advance that O.J. Simpson and a memorabilia dealer planned an operation to retrieve personal items Simpson said were stolen from him, according to FBI reports obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
Dealer Thomas Riccio told FBI agents Aug. 21 that Simpson wanted to televise the operation as he confronted a collector who was peddling thousands of pieces of Simpson's memorabilia.
But Riccio was not clear how the operation would unfold, and there was no mention in the report of guns that were allegedly drawn as Simpson and five other men stormed a Las Vegas hotel room.
Riccio was advised to contact a lawyer before taking any action and was told that alerting the FBI would not absolve him of any potential crime, agent Linda Kline wrote of the meeting, which occurred in Los Angeles.
"I went along with O.J.'s plan," Riccio told the AP on Friday. "It was a self-organized sting operation. Except for the final result, with him bringing people who had guns. I knew nothing about that."
Simpson, 60, and five other men were arrested after they allegedly stormed into a Las Vegas hotel room Sept. 13 to seize items that were believed to include family photos and the suit Simpson wore the day he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend.
Las Vegas Police Detective Andy Caldwell, the investigator handling the case, said Friday the FBI did not alert his department before the confrontation between Simpson and collectors Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong in a room at a Las Vegas casino hotel.
"They contacted us afterward and provided us with the documentation," Caldwell told the AP.
He said he had no information about any FBI investigation into the incident and said he has no idea about the nature of the contact between federal agents and Riccio "or why they were talking with him."
FBI spokesman Laura Eimiller declined to comment on the interview.
Riccio told the AP on Friday that he called Los Angeles police and the FBI and "no one seemed to be concerned about it. They didn't seem all that interested."
Simpson, 60, is charged with an assortment of felonies including armed robbery and kidnapping. Three of his co-defendants have since pleaded guilty to lesser charges and said they would testify against Simpson. A preliminary hearing is scheduled next week in Las Vegas.
The FBI reports, written Aug. 21 and Sept. 19, said Riccio told agents he had been approached by Beardsley, who wanted to sell thousands of Simpson items.
The documents said Riccio described Beardsley as a fanatic and said Riccio contacted Simpson about the items. Simpson said his belongings were stolen from his Florida house by his former agent, Mike Gilbert, and others who had worked for him.
"Riccio and Simpson want to do a television broadcast confronting Beardsley regarding the items that were stolen," one report said. "Simpson wanted Riccio's assistance in setting up the operation and helping obtain interviews for Simpson through various media outlets after the fact."
Beardsley told police he had been robbed by Simpson and a group of men wielding guns. Simpson has denied there were any guns involved. He said Riccio set up the meeting and he planned to surprise Beardsley and retrieve his property.
Simpson told the AP he went to the hotel room after being alerted by Riccio that Beardsley and another collectibles dealer, Fromong, were trying to sell his possessions. Simpson knew both dealers.
Simpson, who was in Las Vegas for a friend's wedding, said he arranged to meet Riccio at the Palace Station hotel. He said Riccio had set up a meeting with collectors under the guise that he had a private collector interested in buying Simpson's items.
He said he was accompanied by several men he met at a wedding cocktail party, and they took the collectibles.
"We walked into the room," Simpson said. "I'm the last one to go in and when they see me, it's all 'Oh God.'"
"There was no armed robbery here," Simpson said then. "It wasn't a robbery. They said `Take your stuff and go.'"
Riccio has said the plan to take Simpson's property unraveled because he brought other men with him. He has subsequently released a tape recording he made of the incident and been granted immunity by prosecutors.
Many of his sports collectibles, including his Heisman Trophy, were seized under court order and auctioned to pay some of the $33.5 million awarded in a wrongful death lawsuit to the estate of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and the family of her friend Ronald Goldman.
Nov 8, 11:04 AM EST
O.J. due in Vegas court on 12 charges
By KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- When O.J. Simpson returns to a courtroom to face armed robbery charges, the former football star will also be facing years of doubts and questions about his acquittal on murder charges more than a decade ago.
A Las Vegas justice of the peace will be asked to determine after a two-day hearing starting Thursday if there is enough evidence to take Simpson and two co-defendants to trial on charges that they robbed two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.
In Simpson's mind, according to a close friend, the charges are rooted in Simpson being found not guilty in the 1994 slayings of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
"He believes he's being tried for that now," said Tom Scotto, 45, a North Miami Beach, Fla., auto body shop owner.
The men arrested in the Sept. 13 incident were brought together by Scotto's wedding.
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles Ehrlich face 12 charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion. A kidnapping conviction could result in a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction could mean mandatory prison time.
"He's taking this serious," Scotto said. "It is serious."
No one disputes that Stewart, Ehrlich and former co-defendants Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore went with Simpson and California collectibles broker Tom Riccio to meet memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong in a casino hotel room.
Simpson has maintained that he wanted to retrieve items he claimed had been stolen from him by a former agent, including the suit he wore the day he was acquitted in Los Angeles.
The case is likely to pivot on Simpson's contention that he didn't ask anyone to bring guns, that he didn't know anyone had guns and that no guns were displayed.
Three of Simpson's co-defendants have pleaded guilty or agreed to do so and are expected to testify against him.
Cashmore, 40, a journeyman laborer, said McClinton displayed a gun.
Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., told police after his Sept. 15 arrest that he and McClinton carried guns, but that he kept one in his waistband while McClinton displayed his as Beardsley and Fromong were frisked.
"O.J. said `hey, just bring some firearms,'" Alexander said, according to a transcript of his tape-recorded statement to detectives.
McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, who later turned two handguns over to police and surrendered his concealed weapons permit, is expected to bolster that account.
Nevertheless, the prosecution's case has certain weaknesses, including some unsavory witnesses.
Of the eight men who were in the room with Simpson, six have run afoul of the law before, with convictions for arson, theft, cocaine trafficking and assault among them.
Moreover, Simpson's lawyers have argued that the men who turned against him lied to win generous plea bargains for themselves.
"He's got a bunch of people making up anything they can make up, just to get out of trouble," Scotto said.
Simpson and the others are likely to be bound over for trial "because the burden of proof is such that all they have to show is that some evidence suggests a crime occurred," said Tom Pitaro, a veteran Las Vegas defense lawyer who teaches trial advocacy at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger and prosecutor Chris Owens declined comment on their plans for the hearing.
Nov. 08, 2007 PRELIMINARY HEARING: Simpson show returns
Media refocus on LV for scheduled court appearance
By BRIAN HAYNES REVIEW-JOURNAL
They're baaaaack.
O.J. Simpson, the media throng and maybe even a guy in a chicken suit return today to the Regional Justice Center, where prosecutors for the first time will lay out their case against the former star running back and two others.
Simpson, Charles Erlich and Clarence Stewart each face 12 charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy, in the Sept. 13 holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers at Palace Station. The three other co-defendants, Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore, have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their testimony.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last through at least Friday, as is the crush of national media attention that comes with such a high-profile case. Bulky white satellite trucks from every major media outlet started rolling into the courthouse parking lot Tuesday, and more than 170 media credentials were issued to outlets large and small, including ESPN, People magazine, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ.com.
Court officials started preparing for this week's hearing almost as soon as Simpson and the media crowds left town after his initial arraignment in mid-September. The experience that week made officials painfully aware of just how much of a microscope they would be under, Court Administrator Chuck Short said.
"I knew that Sunday (when Simpson was arrested) that life was going to change for a lot of us at the Regional Justice Center," he said.
For example, during a news conference on the courthouse steps to explain the legal process for Simpson's case, Short got a text message telling him a bailiff's gum-popping was being picked up on the microphone.
At Simpson's arraignment two days later, courtroom cameras caught a clerk trying to snap a photo with a camera phone. Within 30 minutes Short had three calls and a fax pointing out the lack of courtroom decorum, he said.
Internally, the court created a security process to handle high-profile case files to prevent their accidental release. Such cases are now kept in a secure location that can be accessed by only two court employees, he said.
Much of the preparation, however, centered on accommodating the reporters who would cover the two-day hearing.
Court officials closed Clark Avenue on the south side of the courthouse and created an area for the nearly three dozen broadcast outlets to set up their cameras. The courthouse's south entrance will be closed to the public today and Friday, forcing all foot traffic in through the north doors.
Simpson will enter through the north doors and pass through the metal detectors like the rest of the public.
"Just because he's a football star, or whatever you want to call him now, he's not going to get any special treatment," Assistant Court Administrator Ed Friedland said.
Lewis Avenue, on the north side of the courthouse, will be closed in anticipation of the dozens of curiosity seekers, self promoters and others expected to gather outside the courthouse during Simpson's hearing.
Las Vegas police will have a "significant officer presence" outside the courthouse to deal with any crowd problems, said officer Bill Cassell, a spokesman for the department.
About 60 reporters will fill most of the courtroom. The rest of the 100 seats will be taken by relatives of the defendants and court or legal staff. A few seats might be open to the public, depending on media demand, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
An area just outside court is to be set up to accommodate the media spillover.
Longtime television producer Peter Shaplen was brought in to help coordinate with media outlets and the court. Shaplen served in the same role for the Scott Peterson and Michael Jackson trials, and those both went smoothly with no clashes between rival reporters.
"The last thing the court wants in front of the Regional Justice Center is to have a scrum, where everything is pell-mell," Shaplen said.
Despite the massive media presence in Las Vegas this week, the Simpson hearing pales in comparison to those two trials. The Peterson case had 780 media credentials, while the Jackson case had 2,300.
If Simpson's case gets to trial, however, it could get close.
"You're on a trajectory to be in the top echelon," Shaplen said.
Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.
O.J. SIMPSON PRELIMINARY HEARING: Witness: Guns a shock
Hotel raid was in works for weeks, associate says
By BRIAN HAYNES REVIEW-JOURNAL
Thomas Riccio knew O.J. Simpson would be leading a hotel room raid to reclaim his treasured sports mementos. He knew Simpson had recruited five other men to help. And he knew the two memorabilia collectors inside Room 1203 had no idea what was coming.
But Riccio didn't know there would be guns, he testified Thursday.
"There was no reason for a gun," Riccio said. "They were getting their stuff back without a gun."
Riccio's testimony capped the first day of the preliminary hearing for Simpson, 60, Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich, both 53, who each are charged with 12 counts including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy. Three other men who took part in the Sept. 13 incident at Palace Station have agreed to plead guilty and testify against the others. At the end of the hearing, which could run into next week, Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure will decide whether to send the case to District Court for trial.
Riccio said Simpson and he had planned the sting for weeks, ever since memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley told him in early August about a collector who had thousands of Simpson's stolen personal items. The items included a plaque signed by former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, one-of-a-kind game footballs and family photos, Riccio said.
He said he helped plan the sting because he believed the items were Simpson's. He thought Simpson and his men would enter the room to identify what they believed was Simpson's stolen property, and if the collectors did not hand over the property, the police would be called, Riccio said.
Yet Simpson didn't seem to want any authorities involved. When Riccio suggested they have a hotel security guard on standby, Simpson declined.
"'I have my boys here. We're going to take care of it,'" Riccio said Simpson told him.
Prosecutors allege Simpson and the others burst into the room and robbed Beardsley and memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong at gunpoint. Las Vegas police arrested Simpson three days later.
The Heisman Trophy winner's appearance inside the Regional Justice Center on Thursday attracted the anticipated collection of news reporters and regular irregulars outside.
Between occasional smoke breaks, a man dressed as a chicken carried signs that read "O.J. is guilty" and "If I Did It" with the word "If" crossed out.
Meanwhile, a man in a bunny suit with "stop police brutality" spray painted on it circled the building on roller skates, carrying a sign proclaiming "O.J. didn't do it." As the day heated up, the man shed the bunny suit but kept the skates and could be seen hanging out with a guy whose sign declared "War on the police." [I bet it was Fonzie from Phoenix! Copwatch Fonzie!]
Simpson arrived at the courthouse about 30 minutes before the hearing, rolling up in a dark-colored Hummer owned by his bail bondsman, Miguel Pereira. A throng of people surrounded the vehicle as it rolled to a stop, and Simpson emerged.
Simpson and his entourage walked past a line of photographers and through a courthouse metal detector. As Simpson removed his belt to walk through the checkpoint, people waiting in the security line scrambled to find cameras and cell phone cameras, and court marshals tried to control the growing mob surrounding the NFL hall of famer.
"O.J. I love you," Erica Smallbear, 28, shouted as Simpson put his belt back on.
He gave her a wave, put his sunglasses on and headed for the courtroom.
"I talked to him!" Smallbear said.
"I believe God will set him free, and that's what we're praying for," she said of her and her friends at the Salvation Army program for mental illness and drug addiction.
Simpson kept his sunglasses on until he sat at the defense table.
The hearing started with testimony from Fromong, a North Las Vegas resident who used to work with Simpson on sports memorabilia deals. Fromong said Beardsley told him a buyer was interested in some of his Simpson collectibles.
Fromong loaded the collection into his truck and drove to Palace Station, where he met Beardsley and Riccio. After they took the items to the room and laid them on the bed, Riccio left to meet the buyer, Fromong said. He returned with Simpson and five other men, two of whom had pistols, he said.
"I remember Mr. Simpson say, 'Don't let anybody out of this room. Nobody leaves,'" Fromong said. He said the men burst into the room in "military invasion fashion."
Fromong said one of the men shoved him into a chair, and another stuck a gun in his face while the men made off with the memorabilia, which included footballs, Joe Montana lithographs and Pete Rose-signed baseballs.
"O.J. was screaming, 'This is all ... my (expletive). You guys stole this from me,'" said Fromong. He said he told Simpson he bought it legally from former Simpson business associate Mike Gilbert.
During nearly two hours of cross examination, Simpson lawyer Gabriel Grasso questioned Fromong about whether the memorabilia had been stolen by Gilbert.
Fromong's answers varied, from Simpson gave it to Gilbert to Gilbert took it from Simpson.
"Mike took it from O.J. I didn't say steal. He took it," Fromong said.
Fromong denied that the memorabilia was stolen.
Fromong said that as the men left the hotel room with the memorabilia, he told Simpson he would give him Gilbert's number, but Simpson just took the cell phone and left. Fromong said Simpson told him he would leave the phone at the front desk but didn't.
About five weeks before the incident, Riccio and Simpson started planning what they called a sting to retrieve what they thought was Simpson's property. Riccio called Los Angeles police and the FBI looking for help.
"They made it sound like it was a civil thing, and they didn't want nothing to do with it," Riccio said.
The plan evolved to include some sort of sting in a hotel room, but they did not settle on a Las Vegas location until late in the planning, Riccio said.
Riccio said he thought Las Vegas was a good place because Simpson was going to be in town for a wedding, the memorabilia was in North Las Vegas and Riccio could make an easy stopover on his flight back to Los Angeles from New York.
For setting up the meeting, Simpson agreed to sign 200 copies of the new book "If I Did It" for him, Riccio said.
Hours before the hotel room raid, Riccio met Simpson, Ehrlich and others at the Palms pool and discussed the plan. Simpson's sister and another man who said he was a lawyer tried to talk Simpson out of it, but he ranted about having his stuff stolen and was determined to get it back, Riccio said.
After Fromong and Beardsley laid out the memorabilia in the Palace Station room that evening, Riccio met Simpson and the other men in the hotel lobby.
Riccio said he was not worried about Simpson and his group getting out of control.
"I was afraid of Beardsley and whoever he might bring," Riccio said. "Not O.J."
But moments later they were rushing into the room and screaming at Fromong and Beardsley. The six-minute episode was captured on a digital audio recorder that Riccio had hidden in the room. Riccio said he bought the recorder at a Radio Shack the day before to have a record of his dealings with Simpson to protect himself.
One man who sounded like Simpson shouted, "(Expletive), you think you can steal my (expletive) and sell it?"
After the men cleared out, a man who sounded like Beardsley said, "We were just robbed at gunpoint, man. We were just robbed at gunpoint by O.J. Simpson."
Riccio gave the recorder to authorities after prosecutors granted him immunity.
His lawyer, Stanley Lieber, said he thought his client would not have been charged anyway because prosecutors told him Riccio did not do anything wrong.
Riccio provided other recordings, including a voice mail left shortly after the incident in which Simpson said they did not use any guns.
Riccio testified that Simpson called him again a couple days later.
"O.J. told me, 'This is all going to blow over in a couple of days. Nothing's going to come of it,'" Riccio said. "The next day he got arrested."
Review-Journal staff writers Henry Brean and K.C. Howard contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Brian Haynes at
bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.
Nov 9, 6:46 AM EST
Drama unfolds at O.J. Simpson hearing
By KEN RITTER Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- The first day of O.J. Simpson's criminal evidentiary hearing was marked by dramatic audio recordings and a collectibles broker who testified he set up the meeting that ultimately led to armed robbery charges against the former football star.
The second day of the hearing to decide if Simpson and two other men should stand trial on 12 criminal charges was set for Friday. Defense lawyers were expected to try to undercut the testimony of Tom Riccio, who captured the events on a digital recorder.
Riccio testified Thursday he hid a recorder in the hotel room where Simpson is accused of leading the armed robbery.
Simpson, 60, gritted his teeth and laid his gold-framed reading glasses on the defense table as the echoes of a voicemail he left for Riccio hung in the air of the courtroom.
"Hey Tom. It's O.J. What are they talking about a gun? All I wanted was my stuff back again," Simpson says on the 35-second recording.
On the recording, Simpson refers to hundreds of items taken from memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley on Sept. 13 as his "stolen stuff."
"Nobody had a gun, you know?" he says. "Ain't nobody had any guns. They're feeling guilty so they're trying to make up something."
Those calm words contrasted to the chaotic bellows, barked orders and curses heard during a six-minute recording of the confrontation in a room at the Palace Station Hotel Casino that ends with a single voice.
"We were just robbed at gunpoint man," a man says. "We were just robbed at gunpoint by O.J. Simpson."
Defense lawyers for Simpson, Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles Ehrlich lost a last-minute bid to get a judge to exclude the audio. They were to open the second day of testimony cross-examining Riccio, whose account of the confrontation painted the event as an almost comical caper gone wrong.
Riccio said he later sold a copy of the recording to a tabloid Web site before handing it over to police.
Prosecutors allege Simpson, Stewart, Ehrlich and three other men who have taken plea deals conspired to rob Beardsley and Fromong and then say no guns were used.
Former co-defendants Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore are expected to testify that Simpson asked for guns to be brought along to show they were serious about retrieving items that he claimed were his.
Simpson has maintained in interviews and through his lawyers that no guns were displayed, that he never asked anyone to bring guns and that he did not know anyone had guns.
Simpson, 60, and Stewart and Ehrlich, both 53, face armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges. A kidnapping conviction could result in a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction could mean mandatory prison time.
Fromong testified Thursday he had expected to meet with an anonymous buyer on Sept. 13, when Simpson arrived with others "in a military invasion fashion."
Fromong and Riccio were the first two of eight witnesses prosecutors said they expect to call during the hearing.
Asked during a break what he thought of the proceedings, Simpson smiled, shrugged and said, "It is what it is." He has been instructed by his lawyers not to talk to the media.
During cross-examination by Simpson attorney Gabriel Grasso, Fromong acknowledged that at the same time the dealers were calling police to report they had been robbed, he and Beardsley also were calling a syndicated TV show to try to make money from the experience.
Fromong also acknowledged that he has gone to the online auction site eBay to peddle memorabilia items he has dubbed, "Identical to the items O.J. stole from me!"
He waffled about whether he has been shopping a book deal about the experience, but confirmed he has discussed the idea. At one point, he joked that he'd like Jack Nicholson to play him if a movie is made.
---
AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
BREAKDOWN OF CHARGES, PUNISHMENTS O.J. Simpson and two co-defendants face the following charges and possible penalties in a Sept. 13 incident that authorities allege was an armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers:
Two counts of first-degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, carrying the possibility of life in state prison or a definite term of 15 years, depending on the sentencing judge's discretion. Parole eligibility starts after five years.
Two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, mandatory two to 15 years in prison, plus a possible additional one to 15 years for use of a weapon.
Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, a felony, two to 15 years.
Two counts of coercion with use of a deadly weapon, a felony, two to 12 years.
Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, felony, one to six years.
Conspiracy to commit kidnapping, felony, one to six years.
Conspiracy to commit robbery, felony, one to six years.
Conspiracy to commit a crime, gross misdemeanor, one year in county jail. SOURCE: LAS VEGAS JUSTICE COURT, NEVADA REVISED STATUTES
Curious turn out for the free show
Spectators start lining up at court at 7 a.m.
Fred Conrad and John Miller traveled to Las Vegas to play some cards and take in a few shows. They saw "Defending the Caveman" one night, Rich Little the next.
Then on Thursday morning, they decided to check out the biggest production in town: the preliminary hearing for O.J. Simpson.
"I've never experienced anything like this before. I thought it would be interesting," Conrad said.
"This is the big show," Miller added. "And it's free."
The neighbors from suburban Chicago were among a handful of everyday citizens who turned out to watch the hearing in person.
The first few spectators began lining up about 7 a.m. in hopes of landing one of the few seats in the courtroom not already taken by attorneys, reporters, and relatives of the witnesses and defendants.
Joe Cirilo was among the first to arrive. He had a few days off from his job with a local security company so he wandered down to the courthouse to check out the scene.
"I'm nosy and curious, just like everybody else," the 74-year-old said. "If he's proven guilty, I hope justice will be served."
Beate Falk, 71, also showed up early hoping to get a seat in the gallery.
"I'm retired. I have all this time, so I try to do lots of exciting things," she explained.
The native of Austria spent 40 years in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas about five years ago. She said she regrets not witnessing Simpson's murder trial. She wasn't about to miss another chance to see him in person.
"I want to see his face. I want to see if he has the same smug face like he usually does," she said. "He should have been convicted the first time. I'm glad they got him (during the civil trial) in Santa Monica, and I hope they get him here. He's got to pay somewhere down the line."
Tara Waters joined the group about 7:15 a.m. dressed in a T-shirt that read, "Exercise your faith, walk with God."
As she waited for the hearing, she paged through a pocket-sized Bible filled with passages she had highlighted in bright yellow, pink and blue.
Waters said she was there to spread God's message and encourage people to "turn their lives around for the Lord." With all the cameras around, she figured she could reach a lot of folks at once. Maybe she would even get the chance to talk with Simpson.
"If I had that opportunity, I would, just to see where his head is at," she said.
Conrad and Miller were relatively late to Thursday's party.
They showed up at about 9 a.m. not expecting to be able to get anywhere close to the courtroom. Instead they found only five other people in line ahead of them.
Asked what they thought about the case against Simpson, Miller and Conrad started to riff.
"We kind of think he should be guilty just out of sheer stupidity," Miller said.
"But that's an insult to stupid," Conrad replied.
Seth Willing walked over to the Regional Justice Center from his room at a weekly motel with no expectation that he would get to sit in on Thursday's hearing.
He decided to hang around once he saw he was one of the only members of the public waiting to get in. He chomped sunflower seeds and spit the shells in an empty water bottle to pass the time.
Willing said he moved to Las Vegas from Seattle last week in search of work as something called a "brand ambassador." The job basically entails going to public events and plugging products by handing out samples and promotional materials. Sometimes costumes and stunts are involved.
Willing insisted he did not come to the courthouse to promote anything. He just considers Simpson an interesting individual.
During his freshman year of high school in Texas, Willing was let out of biology class early so he and his classmates could watch the verdict in Simpson's 1995 murder trial. He has been following Simpson's exploits ever since.
"I want to see him face to face. I just want to look into his eyes, see what kind of person he is," he said.
For a while, it looked like there would be plenty of seats to go around, but a surge of interested spectators showed up just before the hearing was set to begin. A court staff member had to draw raffle tickets out of a box to determine who would get the 15 seats available.
Willing's ticket was one of the first to be drawn, but he had stepped away and didn't hear his number being called.
When his ticket was tossed back in the box and drawn again a few minutes later, Conrad shook his head and said, "That guy ought to buy a lottery ticket."
By the time the drawing was over, though, Cirilo, Falk, Waters, Conrad and Miller had all been picked to go inside.
Not everyone was so lucky. One man who had his number called ended up being escorted out of the justice center when a bailiff found a pair of two-inch sewing scissors in his pocket. Another man was turned away because of a courtroom dress code that prohibits shorts.
Though they were happy to be picked, Miller and Conrad said they only planned to watch the O.J. show for an hour or two.
"He's not that fascinating to keep us away from the tables," Miller explained. "We've got to go lose some more money."
Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0350.
Nov. 10, 2007
SIMPSON PROCEEDINGS: Scrutiny remains on guns
Witness says ex-football star might not have seen weapon
Charles Cashmore testifies Friday during a preliminary hearing in Las Vegas for O.J. Simpson and two co-defendants.
Minutes after leading a raid on a hotel room to retrieve his memorabilia, O.J. Simpson left a voice mail for Thomas Riccio saying he hadn't seen anyone use a gun.
Later that night, while Las Vegas police were still in the room investigating, Simpson again called Riccio about the gun issue.
"He said, 'Don't say there was a gun because there was no gun.' That's when I told him I saw a gun," Riccio testified Friday, adding there was a "real good" chance Simpson didn't see the weapon because he was standing several feet in front of the gunman during the Sept. 13 confrontation at the Palace Station.
Riccio's morning testimony wrapped up his turn on the witness stand in the preliminary hearing of Simpson, 60, Charles Ehrlich and Clarence Stewart, both 53, who are charged with robbing two memorabilia dealers at gunpoint. Each man faces 12 criminal counts, including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy.
Three other men involved in the raid have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their testimony.
After the hearing, which will continue Tuesday, Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure will decide whether there's enough evidence to send the case to District Court for trial.
Despite the large media gathering outside the courthouse Friday, interest in the hearing seemed to wane.
For the hearing's opening day Thursday, court officials had to raffle off the 15 courtroom seats available to the general public. So few people, including reporters, showed up Friday that seats were handed out to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
Meanwhile, outside the courthouse there was no sign of the chicken man, the giant bunny on roller skates, the shirtless man wearing a barrel around his waist or any of the other characters who roamed the sidewalks the previous day. They were replaced by two people dressed in black-and-white-striped prison garb, one protesting a local car dealership, the other advertising a bail bonds company.
By the end of the day a few Simpson supporters showed up outside the courthouse to cheer as he departed. His supporters inside the courtroom included his sister, Shirley Baker, and friend Thomas Scotto. Simpson was in Las Vegas the week of the room raid for Scotto's wedding.
During his Friday testimony, Riccio elaborated on earlier statements about the weeks leading up to the incident.
He said memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley called him out of the blue in early August to pitch a deal involving stolen Simpson property, including record-breaking game footballs, personalized plaques and family photos.
Beardsley told Riccio the items had been taken from Simpson's house by Mike Gilbert, a former agent, Riccio testified. Beardsley explained that Gilbert had taken the items years ago to hide from sheriff's deputies headed to the house to collect Simpson's property for the $38 million civil judgment against him by the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, Riccio said.
The property was supposed to be returned, but Gilbert kept it, he said.
Riccio said a combination of reasons led him to tell Simpson about the memorabilia and help hatch the plan to get it back. Part of it was doing the right thing, but he also had personal feelings about the people involved and stood to make money in a book-signing deal with Simpson, he said.
"If O.J. was a real jerk to me, I wouldn't have been there," Riccio said. "If Beardsley hadn't been a jerk to me, I wouldn't have been there. If O.J. wasn't doing the book, I'm not in there. You add it all up, I'm there."
Riccio disputed testimony from memorabilia dealer Bruce Fromong, who said Thursday that Simpson and five other men burst into the room in "military invasion fashion" and that one of the men pointed a gun at him.
Riccio said the men walked into the room after he used his key to unlock the door and the situation was under control despite the shouting from Simpson and others.
Fromong seemed to be giving Simpson the memorabilia as Simpson accused him of stealing his memorabilia and trying to sell it, Riccio said.
Fromong "said, 'Mike took it,' not whether he stole it or not," Riccio said. "And he was happy to give it back."
But the situation "went south" after Fromong objected to the men taking his non-Simpson memorabilia, including baseballs signed by Pete Rose and lithographs of NFL hall of famer Joe Montana, Riccio said. Riccio said he didn't see a gun until Fromong's protest, and he said Fromong and Beardsley probably would not have called police if a gun hadn't been involved.
"It wasn't a pleasant experience, but I think everyone could have lived with it until that gun came out," Riccio said.
The first co-defendant to testify was Charles Cashmore, a local laborer who said he didn't even meet Simpson until about an hour before the Palace Station incident.
Cashmore got involved in the plan through Stewart, whom he had known about five years. Stewart had agreed to pay Cashmore $500 to help organize and work the bar at a wedding party at his house that week when he invited Cashmore to the Palms to meet Simpson, Cashmore testified.
Before long Cashmore had been recruited to accompany the others to help get memorabilia. When they reached the hotel, Cashmore and Ehrlich were to go to the room and verify the memorabilia was Simpson's and the meeting wasn't a set-up, Cashmore said.
When the men met Riccio in the lobby, however, Riccio convinced them all to come at once, he said.
Cashmore and Ehrlich entered the room first but were quickly pushed aside by the others. Cashmore said he saw one man waving a gun and another man with a gun near his waist. Cashmore said he felt threatened and complied with orders to stuff footballs and memorabilia into pillow cases and carry it out to a sport-utility vehicle.
During the drive from the hotel, Cashmore overheard Simpson in the SUV on his cell phone saying nobody saw a gun and there weren't any guns, he said.
"It might have been some sort of psychology, reverse psychology," Cashmore said.
During cross-examination, Ehrlich lawyer John Moran Jr. tried to convince Bonaventure that Cashmore had violated the judge's rule against watching the hearing in person or on television. Cashmore had appeared on a national television news show the night before, and his appearance could have tainted the testimony of other witnesses who might have been watching, Moran argued.
After about 10 minutes of arguments, Bonaventure ruled against Moran. The decision prompted a loud sigh from Ehrlich, who slumped his shoulders and said "Oh my God."
Cashmore withstood three hours of aggressive cross-examination from defense lawyers, including Gabriel Grasso, one of Simpson's lawyers.
Grasso suggested Cashmore was a publicity seeker hoping to take financial advantage of his role in the incident.
Cashmore denied having a profit motive and said the ordeal has created nothing but problems. Cashmore said he expects to have trouble finding work. His father refuses to talk to him, and he now has a felony conviction.
"The intent here is to do the right thing and try to get my life back," Cashmore said.
Review-Journal staff writer Henry Brean contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.
Nov 15, 1:04 PM EST
Lawyer: O.J. to spend time golfing
By LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent AP Photo AP Photo/Isaac Brekken Advertisement YesNo YesNo YesNo Buy AP Photo Reprints
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LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson's lawyer said the former football star plans to spend the next two weeks in Miami "playing golf and taking care of the kids" before returning to a Nevada courtroom to be arraigned on kidnapping and armed robbery charges that could mean life in prison.
More than a decade after his acquittal on murder charges, Simpson was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges that he and armed accomplices staged an armed robbery of sports memorabilia dealers. Simpson said he wasn't surprised - and that he's counting on another jury to clear him.
"If I have any disappointment it's that I wish a jury was here," Simpson told The Associated Press before he left the courtroom. "As always, I rely on the jury system."
Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure refused to dismiss any charges in a 12-count complaint against Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich, which stem from a Sept. 13 confrontation in a casino hotel room.
The decision came after a 3 1/2-day preliminary hearing in which three men who accompanied Simpson - two who said they carried guns - testified against him as part of a plea deal.
Defense attorneys characterized the witnesses as con artists and crooks out for a buck. Outside the courthouse, Simpson attorney Yale Galanter argued that Simpson was trying only to reclaim family heirlooms and that he believed no crime was committed.
"I have never been in a case where every witness had a financial motive, where every witness had a credibility problem," he said.
Bonaventure said there were a number of motive and credibility issues, but that they were "not so incredible or implausible" to keep the case from a jury.
The trial could begin within 60 days, but Chief Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Douglas Smith said coordinating court and lawyers' calendars could push it back six months or longer. Galanter, who rejected the idea of a plea agreement, estimated it would take a year to bring the case to trial.
Stewart's lawyer, Robert Lucherini, said he may seek to have his client's trial separated from Simpson's.
"We're disappointed, but we understand the judge's decision," Lucherini said.
Ehrlich's attorney declined to comment afterward.
All three defendants are scheduled for arraignment Nov. 28. Until then, O.J. will do "what he always does," said Galanter. "He'll be home and playing golf and taking care of the kids."
In court Wednesday, Simpson's attorneys argued that charges against him should be dropped. Another Simpson lawyer, Gabriel Grasso, said it was unclear whether prosecutors considered it kidnapping to lure two sports memorabilia dealers to a hotel room - or whether the charge was based on the confrontation that followed.
"This is clearly overcharging," he said.
Simpson, 60, has maintained that no guns were displayed, that he never asked anyone to bring guns and that he did not know anyone had guns. He has said he intended only to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent, including the suit he wore the day he was acquitted of murder in 1995 in the slayings of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Simpson and the other defendants did not testify in their own defense.
A defense lawyer contended that the case was based on the accounts of "crackheads and groupies and pimps and purveyors of stolen merchandise and gun carriers and con artists and crooks."
"These guys are bad. The court can't ascribe any credibility to what came out of their mouths," attorney John Moran Jr., who represents Ehrlich, said in court. "Every witness up there was looking to sell testimony and make money off of this case."
The witnesses corroborated one another's stories, and recordings, video and photographs supported the charges, Prosecutor Chris Owens said. Owens offered no defense of their characters but said: "It's not like the state went out and found the witnesses. These are people aligned with O.J. Simpson. These are the people he surrounds himself with."
Nov. 15, 2007 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
SPORTS MEMORABILIA INCIDENT: Simpson to be tried
Nov. 28 arraignment next for ex-football star, co-defendants
By BRIAN HAYNES REVIEW-JOURNAL
After four days of grilling witness after witness about holes in their testimony and skeletons in their closets, O.J. Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said his only regret was not having a jury in the courtroom to hear it.
Now he'll get his wish.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure on Wednesday ordered Simpson and his two co-defendants, Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich, to face trial on kidnapping, robbery with a deadly weapon and other charges in the Sept. 13 sports memorabilia heist at Palace Station.
In his decision, the judge acknowledged credibility issues with key witnesses and potential legal issues with the charges, yet found probable cause that the defendants had committed the crime. "The ultimate determination of the credibility of witnesses should be left to a jury," he said in sending the case to District Court, where the defendants face a Nov. 28 arraignment on all 12 criminal charges filed by prosecutors.
At a news conference after the decision, Galanter seemed to relish the chance to cross examine the witnesses again.
"These are not good people. These are not credible people, and they should not be believed," Galanter said. "This case is a defense attorney's dream."
If a jury had heard the testimony from the preliminary hearing, the case would be over and Simpson would be a free man, he said.
A trial date will be set at the arraignment before District Judge Jackie Glass, who will preside over the case. Simpson's lawyers said they'll consider asking for a trial within 60 days. Most felony cases in Clark County reach trial in about a year.
Simpson, 60, Stewart and Ehrlich, both 53, face potential life sentences in the case. Authorities believe they were part of a group that stormed a Palace Station hotel room and robbed two sports memorabilia dealers, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, at gunpoint.
Galanter maintained that Simpson acted within the law and only wanted to recover family photos, personal memorabilia and other items he thought had been stolen from him.
Three other men who took part in the raid, Walter Alexander, Michael McClinton and Charles Cashmore, have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their testimony.
Alexander and McClinton provide key testimony Tuesday, saying they brought guns because Simpson had asked them to.
Defense lawyers aggressively questioned both witnesses, and Galanter even accused Alexander of being a pimp who helped run a prostitution Web site.
Beardsley didn't fare much better during his time on the witness stand Wednesday morning. When they weren't suggesting he was a con artist and heard voices in his head, defense lawyers questioned him about his domestic violence conviction and whether he was trying to make a buck off the incident.
"Do you recall saying, 'Bruce. Bruce. Do you know how much money we're going to make off this incident?' " Galanter said, reading from a transcript of a secret audio recording made in the hotel room.
"If it's on the tape, I said it," Beardsley replied.
Beardsley testified that he and Simpson had been unwitting victims in the operation set up by auctioneer Thomas Riccio, who testified last week that he arranged the meeting to help Simpson retrieve personal property that had been stolen from him a decade ago.
Riccio received immunity from prosecutors in exchange for his cooperation and the secret recordings he had made before, during and after the hotel room raid.
Beardsley, who said he didn't want to testify against Simpson, told the court the football star was misled by Riccio about the property Fromong was bringing to the meeting.
Simpson was expecting family photos and other personal items that had been auctioned off because of unpaid storage bills, Beardsley said.
But Fromong, a former business partner of Simpson's, brought game footballs, plaques and other memorabilia he had legitimately purchased from Mike Gilbert, Simpson's former agent, he said.
Fromong had testified he might have given the memorabilia to Simpson if he had asked.
After listening to wave upon wave of attacks on the witnesses' credibility, prosecutor Christopher Owens told Bonaventure that they were a reflection on Simpson.
"Say what you want about the witnesses," Owens said. "These are the people he surrounds himself with."
But their ties to Simpson won't stop his lawyers from attacking their believability on the witness stand.
"They perjured themselves. It's not even close," Galanter said, referring to the witnesses as a "nefarious bunch" with "checkered pasts."
Simpson's lawyers also suggested they will challenge testimony from at least six witnesses who said guns were used in the heist. The lawyers pointed to more than 16 hours of secret audio recordings made by Riccio and McClinton before, during and after the heist. No one ever mentions a gun on the recordings, they said.
They will also contend that Simpson was acting within the law and only trying to get back what belonged to him.
"I do not believe Mr. Simpson committed any crime. He does not believe he committed any crime," Galanter said. "So unless the district attorney's office is willing to give us a complete dismissal, this case will go to trial."
Contact reporter Brian Haynes to bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.
Of course they won't offer OJ a plea bargin for this! They want to jail him for the rest of his life because he beat the murder charge! And they will offer all of the other people accused pleas to nail OJ. Thats not right! "And what of the chance that Simpson himself might seek a plea bargain? Out of the question"
Shaky witnesses, '94 case shape O.J.'s trial in Vegas
Linda Deutsch Associated Press
Associated Press
Nov. 18, 2007 12:00 AM
LAS VEGAS - A kidnapping and robbery trial against O.J. Simpson would give his attorneys a chance to knock holes in the credibility of dubious prosecution witnesses. But it also might tempt jurors to pass judgment on a criminal case Simpson walked away from.
Though a judge found enough evidence Wednesday for Simpson and two other men to be tried, the four-day preliminary hearing showed the case to be anything but a slam dunk.
Prosecutors aren't commenting on their case, including on whether they think it could be bolstered by jurors holding the unspoken belief that Simpson should have been convicted 12 years ago of killing his ex-wife and her friend.
A judge would surely admonish jurors to focus only on the case before them.
Memorabilia dealers who have long profited from selling Simpson collectibles claim they were victimized in September when the former football star and an odd raiding party tried to take back sports items and family heirlooms he claimed had been stolen from him.
One dealer had to be brought to court from jail, where he's serving time for a probation violation in a domestic violence case.
The man who arranged the ill-fated meeting at a Las Vegas casino hotel room testified under a grant of immunity.
Then there were the men who accompanied Simpson, including two who said they packed guns at his behest. One of them admitted he offered to slant his testimony if he was paid enough.
Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure found enough evidence to go to trial, but said there were a number of questions raised about "bought" testimony and witnesses who were portrayed as liars, pimps and con artists trying to make a quick buck off of Simpson.
"Much time was spent attacking the credibility of witnesses," Bonaventure said. "There are a number of motive and credibility issues here. However, the ultimate determination of the credibility of witnesses should be left to a jury."
Will jurors' judgment be affected by Simpson's acquittal in the 1994 slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman?
Jody Armour, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said that case will shadow any trial in Las Vegas.
"The prosecution could gamble that a jury's judgment may be clouded by a desire to do justice writ large rather than focusing on the particular facts of the particular case before them," he said.
That would be a scary proposition for co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich, who may fear being swept along in a campaign to convict Simpson. Kidnapping, the most serious count they and Simpson face, carries a maximum life sentence.
Within minutes after Bonaventure's decision, Stewart's lawyer, Robert Lucherini, raised the possibility that he will move to separate his client's case from Simpson's.
Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said he understood Lucherini's concerns.
"You don't want to try your case in front of the cameras if you don't have to," Galanter said. But he added that in some circles, Simpson is "very well-revered to this day."
Severing the trials of Stewart and Ehrlich from that of Simpson could be complicated legally. And there remains the possibility that the pair could follow three other co-defendants who decided to testify against Simpson in hopes of receiving probation for their roles.
And what of the chance that Simpson himself might seek a plea bargain? Out of the question, Galanter said.
"Unless the D.A. gives us an outright dismissal, we will go to trial," he said.
Armour said the case "has that feel of a den of thieves," which hurts the prosecution "because only those who've admitted to being thieves are left to testify against others who're accused of being thieves."
O.J. Simpson due for arraignment in Nevada court Associated Press Nov. 28, 2007 06:23 AM
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson is due in court Wednesday to enter a plea and have a trial date set in the alleged kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich are expected to plead not guilty to 12 charges lodged against them two weeks ago, after a justice of the peace determined there was enough evidence for them to stand trial.
Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said arraignment for the former football star should be brief - but added, "There's nothing in this case that has been standard."
Indeed, a 31/2-day preliminary hearing offered a nationally televised glimpse of what could come at trial - with sometimes stunning testimony from witnesses including the two men who say they were robbed at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room and three former co-defendants who accompanied Simpson but took plea deals in return for their testimony.
Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich each face kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction could bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction carries mandatory prison time.
Defense attorneys lost a bid during an earlier hearing to get any charges dismissed, despite claims they were based on accounts by "crackheads and groupies and pimps and purveyors of stolen merchandise and gun carriers and con artists and crooks."
The lawyers may challenge an amended complaint filed Monday listing Stewart and Ehrlich as possible witnesses, but not Simpson. Lawyers Robert Lucherini for Stewart, and John Moran Jr. for Ehrlich did not respond Tuesday to messages seeking comment.
A spokesman for Clark County District Attorney David Roger said co-defendants are routinely listed as possible witnesses in criminal cases and that Simpson's name would be added to the list.
"It was a clerical oversight," spokesman Dan Kulin said.
The new document makes no changes in the charges against the three men, but drops Michael McClinton as a defendant. McClinton, who testified that he brought guns to the Sept. 13 confrontation with sports collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley, is on the list of 78 potential trial witnesses.
No new testimony is expected Wednesday, although defense lawyers have hinted at pretrial maneuvers that could affect the case.
Lucherini has said he might move to separate his client's case from Simpson's.
Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass must juggle schedules for two prosecutors, seven defense lawyers and herself in picking a trial date.
Galanter said he will seek a date "sometime next year," but declined to be more specific.
Neither Stewart, 53, a Simpson friend and golfing buddy from North Las Vegas, nor Ehrlich, 53, a friend from Miami, are accused of wielding weapons during the alleged heist.
Simpson and his lawyers contend that he never asked anyone to bring guns to the hotel room at the Palace Station casino and he did not know anyone had guns.
McClinton and Walter Alexander, two former Simpson buddies who say they had guns, pleaded guilty to lesser offenses and testified in return for a chance at probation.
Alexander stunned the courtroom when he testified that he had offered to slant his testimony in Simpson's favor if he was paid.
Galanter, who in cross examination also accused Alexander of running an Internet prostitution ring in Mesa, Ariz., accused Alexander of offering his testimony for sale.
Simpson, 60, of Miami, has maintained that he intended only to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent, including photographs, football awards and the suit he wore the day he was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Prosecutors allege the heist netted tens of thousands of dollars of sports collectibles that bore no connection to Simpson.
Nov 28, 4:31 PM EST
O.J. Simpson Firmly Pleads Not Guilty
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson firmly pleaded not guilty Wednesday at his arraignment on charges of kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. Simpson stood and entered his plea before Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass, who will preside at his trial along with co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich.
Ehrlich and Stewart also entered pleas of not guilty, and a trial date was set for April 7, 2008.
Twelve charges were lodged against the trio two weeks ago after a justice of the peace held a preliminary hearing and determined there was enough evidence for them to stand trial.
That hearing offered a nationally televised glimpse of what could come at trial - with sometimes stunning testimony from witnesses including the two men who say they were robbed at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room and three former co-defendants who accompanied Simpson but took plea deals in return for their testimony.
Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich each face kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction could bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction carries mandatory prison time.
Defense attorneys lost a bid during an earlier hearing to get any charges dismissed, despite claims they were based on accounts by "crackheads and groupies and pimps and purveyors of stolen merchandise and gun carriers and con artists and crooks."
Prosecutor Chris Owens responded that Simpson surrounded himself with the men who testified.
During Wednesday's brief arraignment, the judge cut short an effort by one defense attorney to challenge an amended complaint filed Monday listing Stewart and Ehrlich as possible witnesses, but not Simpson.
A spokesman for Clark County District Attorney David Roger called omitting Simpson's name a "clerical oversight." He said co-defendants are routinely listed as possible witnesses in criminal cases and that Simpson's name would be added to the list.
The new document makes no changes in the charges against the three men, but drops Michael McClinton as a defendant. McClinton, who testified that he brought guns to the Sept. 13 confrontation with sports collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley, is on the list of 78 potential trial witnesses.
Stewart's attorney has said he might move to separate his client's case from Simpson's.
Neither Stewart, 53, a Simpson friend and golfing buddy from North Las Vegas, nor Ehrlich, 53, a friend from Miami, are accused of wielding weapons during the alleged heist.
Simpson and his lawyers contend that he never asked anyone to bring guns to the hotel room at the Palace Station casino and he did not know anyone had guns.
McClinton and Walter Alexander, two former Simpson buddies who say they had guns, pleaded guilty to lesser offenses and testified in return for a chance at probation.
Alexander stunned the courtroom when he testified that he had offered to slant his testimony in Simpson's favor if he was paid.
Simpson attorney Yale Galanter, who in cross examination accused Alexander of running an Internet prostitution ring in Mesa, Ariz., accused Alexander of offering his testimony for sale.
Simpson, 60, of Miami, has maintained that he intended only to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent, including photographs, football awards and the suit he wore the day he was acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Prosecutors allege the heist netted tens of thousands of dollars of sports collectibles that bore no connection to Simpson.
O.J. Simpson held on bail violation
By KEN RITTER, Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson is in custody in Florida on allegations that he violated terms of his release on bail by calling one of his co-defendants in a Las Vegas armed robbery case, a court official said Friday.
Prosecutors allege that Simpson, identifying himself as "Miguel," telephoned Clarence "C.J." Stewart on Nov. 16 and expressed frustration with Stewart's testimony at a preliminary hearing, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
That was two days after a Las Vegas justice of the peace ruled that Simpson, Stewart and another co-defendant should stand trial on 12 charges, including kidnapping and robbery.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger was filing a motion Friday to revoke Simpson's bail, according to a court clerk.
Simpson was to go before a judge Wednesday.
"We understand he's in the custody of his bail bondsman in Florida right now and will be brought to Las Vegas for the hearing," said Elana Pitaro, a clerk for District Court Judge Jackie Glass.
A bail bondsman at You Ring We Spring bail bonds in North Las Vegas declined to comment.
Simpson was freed Sept. 19 on $125,000 bail following his arrest on allegations he and several friends burst into a Las Vegas hotel room and robbed two sports memorabilia dealers at gunpoint.
Simpson has maintained that he was retrieving items that belonged to him. He and the two other men are scheduled to stand trial April 7.
His lawyer, Yale Galanter, did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Simpson faces bail scrutiny
Message left on bail bondsman's voice mail prompts revocation hearing
By BRIAN HAYNES
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Pining for another round of O.J. mania? You got it.
With a throng of reporters and cameramen waiting to greet him, a handcuffed O.J. Simpson returned to a Las Vegas jail Friday night, this time amid allegations that he tried to dissuade a co-defendant from cooperating with authorities in the sports memorabilia robbery case against him.
The fallen former football star was escorted to the Clark County Detention Center by his North Las Vegas-based bail bondsman, Miguel Pereira, who flew in with Simpson from Miami on an American Airlines flight.
Earlier in the day, District Judge Jackie Glass ordered Simpson's detention pending a hearing Wednesday on whether to revoke his $125,000 bail.
The move was based on a motion filed Friday by District Attorney David Roger, who alleged Simpson tried to persuade co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart not to testify or cooperate with law enforcement. The motion cites a message left Nov. 16 on Pereira's voice mail.
"Hey Miguel, it's me. ... I just want, want C.J. to know that the whole thing all the time he was tellin' me that (expletive), ya know, I hope he was telling me the truth. Don't be trying to change the (expletive) now," Simpson said in the message, according to the court documents.
"I'm tired of this (expletive). Fed up with (expletive) changing what they told me. All right?"
As a condition of his bail, Simpson was barred from contacting any co-defendants or witnesses in the case. If Glass revokes Simpson's bail, he would remain at the Las Vegas jail through the trial, scheduled to start April 7.
Pereira, of You Ring We Spring, said he gave the voice mail to the district attorney's office after a private investigator threatened to tell authorities about the recording if Pereira didn't. The bondsman said he didn't pay close attention to the message when he first heard it, but he turned it over because he didn't want to be accused of hiding it.
He said he didn't know who had employed the investigator, but he speculated that it might have been the Goldman family.
Simpson was acquitted in 1995 in the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
Pereira thinks the message was discovered by someone tapping Simpson's phone.
A Las Vegas police transcript of the message, which is attached to Roger's motion, is titled "surreptitious recording."
Simpson, Stewart and Charles Ehrlich face trial on 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping, in the Sept. 13 sports memorabilia heist at a Palace Station hotel room.
Three other co-defendants have taken plea agreements for lesser charges in exchange for their testimony in court.
Prosecutors contend the six men burst into the room with two handguns and robbed memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong. Simpson and the others made off with thousands of dollars' worth of memorabilia, including footballs that once belonged to Simpson and other items, such as baseballs and lithographs, from other sports stars.
Simpson's lawyers have denied that anyone was armed and said their client went to the room to retrieve personal items stolen from him years ago by a former manager.
One of his lawyers, Yale Galanter, denied the voice-mail allegation.
"O.J. did not try to persuade anybody to contact a witness," Galanter said, calling the voice mail an expression of frustration to a member of the defense team.
One of Stewart's lawyers, Jose Pallares, said Friday that he had no knowledge of Simpson's message ever getting to Stewart.
Charles Kelly, a Las Vegas defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor, said the voice mail might not be enough to revoke Simpson's bail, adding that the outcome could hinge on what Stewart tells the judge.
"If C.J. comes in and says, 'O.J.'s been pestering me,' O.J.'s toast," Kelly said. "This judge is the kind of judge who will lock him up in a New York second."
Kelly predicted that defense lawyers will say they had a joint defense agreement that would trump a no-contact order. Such agreements allow co-defendants to communicate to coordinate their defense and have been upheld in federal court, he said.
If Glass buys that argument, she probably would give Simpson a stern warning and let him remain free. But if Roger reveals stronger evidence of misconduct, Simpson could end up with a long stay in jail.
"O.J. tended to underestimate the home field advantage of David Roger," Kelly said.
Review-Journal writers David Kihara and Lawrence Mower and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0281.
O.J. seeks get-out-of-jail order during hearing today in Vegas
Associated Press
Jan. 16, 2008 06:12 AM
LAS VEGAS - O.J. Simpson needs another get-out-of-jail card.
The former football star and celebrity criminal defendant is due in a Nevada court Wednesday to answer charges he violated terms of his bail by attempting to contact a co-defendant in his armed robbery case.
Simpson's lawyer, Gabriel Grasso, filed a written reply late Tuesday urging a judge to reject Clark County District Attorney David Roger's effort to have Simpson jailed without bail until his scheduled trial April 7.
"It says O.J. Simpson in no way violated any conditions of his release," Grasso said of the three-page document. Grasso declined further comment until the hearing, set before the trial judge, Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass.
Roger's motion also alleges Simpson "committed new crimes," but does not elaborate.
Dan Kulin, a spokesman for Roger, declined to say whether new charges would be filed against Simpson.
Simpson, 60, will appear in court after spending five nights and four days at the Clark County jail, where police said he had been cooperative after arriving late Friday from Florida in the custody of his bail bondsman, Miguel Pereira.
Legal experts say the judge probably will allow Simpson another chance at bail because he is not facing a capital murder charge. Simpson might get a stern rebuke and the judge could raise the bail amount if she agrees that Simpson violated a court order not to try to contact his co-defendants.
"A person is entitled to bail under the Nevada Constitution," said Tom Pitaro, a defense lawyer and adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Boyd School of Law.
"But the court can, and probably will, modify the conditions of his bail to get his attention," Pitaro said.
It remained unclear if a new bail agent would become involved. Pereira has complained that he was never paid the $18,750 he was due for posting $125,000 to bail Simpson out of jail Sept. 19.
Two co-defendants, Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles Ehrlich, do not have to appear for Simpson's custody hearing. Stewart remains free on $78,000 bond. Ehrlich is free on $32,000 bond.
The district attorney alleges that Simpson left an expletive-laced message Nov. 16, telling Pereira to tell Stewart how upset Simpson was about testimony during their preliminary hearing.
"I just want, want C.J. to know that ... I'm tired of this (expletive)," Simpson is quoted as saying. "Fed up with (expletives) changing what they told me. All right?"
Pereira may be called as a witness.
"He left a message instructing me to do something violating a court order," Pereira told The Associated Press after Simpson was jailed again last week. "I don't want to get involved in such a dilemma or a criminal act."
Stewart's lawyer, Jose Pallares, said he had no knowledge whether the message reached Stewart.
Simpson told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure on Sept. 19 that he understood he was not to have contact with anyone involved in the case - not even by "passenger pigeon."
Bonaventure later ruled Nov. 14 that there was enough evidence to bind Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich over for trial.
The three men pleaded not guilty Nov. 28 to kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary, coercion and conspiracy charges. A kidnapping conviction could bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction carries mandatory prison time.
Glass on Tuesday declared Ehrlich and Stewart indigent and directed the court to pay for a private investigator for each.
Three other former co-defendants, Walter Alexander of Mesa, Michael McClinton and Charles Cashmore, have pleaded to lesser charges and testified against Simpson at the preliminary hearing.
Simpson has denied any knowledge about guns being involved in the confrontation with memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley. He has said he intended only to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent, including the suit he wore the day he was acquitted of murder in 1995 in the slayings of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Jan 16, 12:36 PM EST
Judge Doubles O.J. Simpson's Bail
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- An angry judge doubled O.J. Simpson's bail to $250,000 on Wednesday for violating terms of his original bail by attempting to contact a co-defendant in his armed robbery case.
Simpson, clad in jail attire, grimaced as the amount was announced and meekly acknowledged that he understood.
"I don't know Mr. Simpson what the heck you were thinking - or maybe that's the problem - you weren't," Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass told Simpson.
"I don't know if it's just arrogance. I don't know if it's ignorance. But you've been locked up at the Clark County Detention Center since Friday because of arrogance or ignorance - or both."
Glass said that the initial court order to not contact oth
Some deal - 7 1/2 years for copping a plea!!!!!
Remember the people who sold OJ out for plea bargins got next to nothing in prison time.
Dec 6, 10:25 AM EST
Simpson could have taken plea deal for less time
By KEN RITTER
Associated Press Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- O.J. Simpson is headed to prison for at least nine years, but a prosecutor says the former football star could have spent less time behind bars if he had accepted a plea deal before he was convicted.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger said Simpson was offered a deal for less prison time than the nine- to 33-year prison terms the graying former football star was sentenced to on Friday for kidnapping and assaulting two sports memorabilia dealers with a deadly weapon.
"Mr. Simpson wanted something just short of a public apology," Roger said. "We didn't think that was appropriate."
Roger did not offer specifics of the deal and Simpson's defense lawyers declined to discuss details.
"There was nothing that was palatable. Nothing acceptable," Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said.
Co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart also rejected a deal that would have had him plead guilty to unspecified reduced charges in return for a promised sentence less than the 7 1/2 to 27 years he received, the prosecutor and defense lawyers said.
"It was a universal deal," said Stewart's lawyer, Brent Bryson. "Both defendants had to accept it. As we know, that didn't happen."
An emotional and hoarse Simpson said nothing about plea deals when he stood in shackles and blue jail garb and apologized before he was sentenced by Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass.
"In no way did I mean to hurt anybody, to steal anything from anyone," Simpson said, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it."
The judge said she was not convinced, and she denied that Simpson's acquittal in Los Angeles in the 1994 slaying of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, had any effect on a sentence that will make Simpson 70 years old before he is eligible for parole.
"I'm not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else. I want that to be perfectly clear to everybody," the judge said.
She called the evidence overwhelming, with the planning, confrontation and aftermath all recorded on audio or videotape.
"You went to the room, and you took guns," Glass told Simpson. "You used force. You took property, whether it was yours or somebody else's. And in this state, that amounts to robbery, with use of a deadly weapon."
"And Mr. Stewart, you got caught up in something," the judge added. "I'm not sure how much you knew. But clearly Mr. Simpson knew."
Simpson and Stewart were each convicted Oct. 3 of 12 criminal charges, including the kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon which led to their sentences, and the armed robbery, conspiracy and burglary sentences that the judge folded in with the rest. Glass threw out two coercion charges.
"We were preparing Mr. Simpson for the worst," Galanter said later. "We felt we did really well. Obviously, he's upset about the possibility of doing nine years."
Roger called it "a fair and just sentence under the circumstances" and said during a news conference that because the crimes were considered violent felonies, Simpson and Stewart won't be eligible for good time credits to lessen the minimum sentences.
The prosecutor said he did not expect they would immediately be released when they do seek parole.
Galanter and Bryson said they intend to appeal their clients' convictions. But they postponed plans to file notices of appeal Friday, after Glass asked them attend a Tuesday morning restitution hearing concerning the items stolen from memorabilia peddlers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.
The hearing will coincide with sentencings for four former co-defendants in the case who took plea deals and testified against Simpson and Stewart. Michael McClinton, Charles Cashmore, Walter Alexander and Charles Ehrlich each could get probation or prison time. McClinton could get up to 11 years; the others face less.
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AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
O.J. Simpson sentenced to long prison term
Ex-NFL star apologizes to judge moments before his sentencing
Fri., Dec. 5, 2008
LAS VEGAS - A weary and beaten-looking O.J. Simpson was put away Friday for at least nine years — and perhaps the rest of his life — for an armed robbery in a hotel room, bringing a measure of satisfaction to those who believed the football star got away with murder more than a decade ago.
The 61-year-old Hall of Famer listened stone-faced, his wrists in shackles, as Judge Jackie Glass pronounced the sentence — 33 years behind bars with eligibility for parole after less than a third of that.
Moments before, Simpson made a rambling, five-minute plea for leniency, simultaneously apologizing for the holdup as a foolish mistake and trying to justify his actions.
He choked back tears as he told her: “I didn’t want to steal anything from anyone. ... I’m sorry, sorry.”
The judge said several times that her sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson’s 1995 acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
“I’m not here to try and cause any retribution or any payback for anything else,” Glass said.
'We are thrilled'
But Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, and sister, Kim, said they were delighted with the sentence.
“We are thrilled, and it’s a bittersweet moment,” Fred Goldman said. “It was satisfying seeing him in shackles like he belongs.”
Simpson said he and five other men were simply trying to retrieve sports memorabilia and other mementos when he stormed a Las Vegas hotel room occupied by two dealers on Sept. 13, 2007. He insisted the items, which included his first wife’s wedding ring, had been stolen from him.
But the judge emphasized that it was a violent confrontation in which at least one gun was drawn, and she said someone could have been shot. She said the evidence was overwhelming, with the planning, the confrontation itself and the aftermath all recorded on audio or videotape.
Series of sentences
Glass, a no-nonsense judge known for tough sentences, imposed such a complex series of consecutive and concurrent sentences that even many lawyers watching the case were confused as to how much time Simpson got.
Simpson could serve up to 33 years, according to Elana Roberto, the judge’s clerk.
In state prison, he will remain in his own cell protected from the general prison population because of his celebrity.
Simpson’s lawyer suggested again that his client was a victim of payback for his acquittal in Los Angeles.
“It really made us all aware that despite our best efforts, it’s very difficult to separate the California case from the Nevada case,” attorney Yale Galanter said.
Some people who followed the case said justice had finally caught up with Simpson.
“You do things and you’ve got to expect karma to come around,” said Greg Wheatley, 32, of Los Angeles.
Simpson was led away to prison immediately after the judge refused to permit him to go free on bail while he appeals.
Simpson’s co-defendant and former golfing buddy, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, was sentenced to up to 27 years in prison but would be eligible for parole after 7½ years, court officials said.
The judge could have sent both men to prison for the rest of their lives. The state parole agency recommended at least 18 years. The defense pushed for the minimum six years.
The Goldmans took a share of the credit for Simpson’s fate, saying their relentless pursuit of his assets to satisfy a $33.5 million wrongful-death judgment “pushed him over the edge” and led him to commit the robbery to recover some of his valuable sports memorabilia.
Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister, Denise Brown, released a statement from her family referring to the date her sister and Ron Goldman were killed.
“Allowing wealth, power and control to consume himself, he made a horrific choice on June 12, 1994, which has spiraled into where he is today,” the statement said.
OJ gets 7 to 30 years. The guys who were paid by the state of Nevda to sell him out in plea bargin deals get probation.
December 9, 2008 - 12:21PM
Mesa man gets probation in O.J. Simpson case
The Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - Four former O.J. Simpson co-defendants who took plea deals and testified against Simpson have been sentenced to probation.
Judge Jackie Glass said Tuesday she accepted presentencing recommendations for no prison time for the men.
Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore and Charles Ehrlich each pleaded guilty to lesser charges and testified about their involvement in Simpson's September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas casino-hotel. Alexander is from Mesa.
Each received various terms of probation ranging from three to eight years.
Simpson was transferred Monday to a Nevada state prison to begin a sentence of nine to 33 years for kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy.
Clarence "C.J." Stewart was the only co-defendant who stood trial with Simpson. He was also convicted and was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 27 years.
December 10, 2008 |
O.J. co-defendants get probation
by Linda Deutsch - Dec. 10, 2008 12:00 AM
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - Four men who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against O.J. Simpson at his robbery-kidnapping trial were sentenced Tuesday to probation, drawing a loud protest from a sports-memorabilia dealer they held at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Bruce Fromong exclaimed after Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass sentenced Michael McClinton to eight years' probation.
McClinton, 50, had testified that he supplied two guns and brandished one during the Sept. 13, 2007, confrontation. "Get him out of the building," Glass said of Fromong, whom she did not let address the court before sentencing.
Glass handed probation terms of six years to Charles Ehrlich, 54; four years to Walter Alexander, 47, of Mesa; and three years to Charles Cashmore, 47, of Las Vegas.
The sentences were much lighter than those meted out Friday to Simpson and Clarence "C.J." Stewart, the only co-defendant who stood trial.
Glass sentenced Simpson to nine to 33 years in prison and Stewart to 7 1/2 to 27 years.
Robert Dennis Rentzer, Alexander's attorney, said Simpson's charismatic personality led the men astray last year when they confronted Fromong and fellow memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley in an attempt to retrieve Simpson mementos that the collectibles dealers were trying to peddle.
All four were ordered to do community service.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/35855804.html
Dec. 10, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
'Stupid but also criminal': Simpson co-defendants go free
By BRIAN HAYNES
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
O.J. Simpson Trial
A day after O.J. Simpson became Nevada prison inmate No. 1027820, four men who helped the fallen football star carry out last year's hotel room holdup at the Palace Station left the courthouse as free men.
Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore and Charles Ehrlich, who each pleaded guilty to reduced charges and testified for the prosecution at trial, all received suspended prison sentences and probation for their roles in the Sept. 13, 2007, armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.
During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, District Judge Jackie Glass called the men's actions that day "stupid but also criminal." She noted their cooperation and acceptance of responsibility before handing out the sentences.
Prosecutors did not recommend prison time for any of the quartet.
The sentencings came four days after Glass sent Simpson, 61, to prison for nine to 33 years. His 54-year-old co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, will serve 7 1/2 to 27 years.
A jury convicted both men Oct. 3 on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery, in connection with the stickup of Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.
Stewart, who was awaiting his transfer to the prison system, sat in the courtroom Tuesday morning in handcuffs and shackles with other jail inmates. He was there for a restitution hearing that ended up being postponed.
"I thought the sentencing was interesting," said Brent Bryson, one of Stewart's lawyers. "The guys who had the weapons got probation, and Mr. Stewart, who didn't even know about the weapons, is doing 71/2 years."
Stewart faced mandatory prison time on the two kidnapping convictions, but considering what happened in that hotel room, "it just doesn't make sense in the grand scheme of things," Bryson said.
Stewart "strongly considered" a plea agreement prosecutors put on the table during trial but rejected it, the attorney said.
Simpson lawyer Gabriel Grasso said he and fellow lawyer Yale Galanter also turned down a plea agreement during the trial.
"We made our bed," Grasso said. "We went to trial. We tried to get an acquittal at trial, and we failed at that. And O.J. is going to have to pay the consequences until his appeal."
Simpson and Stewart plan to appeal their convictions to the Nevada Supreme Court.
McClinton, who pulled a handgun out and barked orders during the robbery, faced up to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
His lawyer, Bill Terry, told the judge that McClinton felt "a little bit of pity" toward Simpson and thought he was helping recover family heirlooms that had been stolen from the football hall of famer.
"He was asked to bring a gun. He brought a gun. He was asked to be menacing. He was menacing," Terry said. "He played his role."
When Glass announced she would give McClinton probation, Fromong blurted from the courtroom gallery, "You've got to be joking me."
Court marshals immediately banished him from the courtroom and escorted him from the Regional Justice Center.
McClinton was given four years of probation and a suspended prison sentence of two to seven years.
Hours later, Fromong's anger was still fresh as he talked about his disappointment in McClinton's sentence.
"I was outraged. I couldn't believe it," he said. Glass "might as well have stuck a gun in my face again."
Fromong, a gun ownership advocate, said McClinton had a concealed-weapons permit and should have been held to a higher standard for using his gun in a crime.
"He was not just backing O.J. up," he said. "He was a thug with a lethal weapon."
Beardsley said that he was "thoroughly disgusted" with the sentence and said that McClinton was the one brandishing a weapon.
Alexander, who carried a handgun in his waistband, received four years of probation and a suspended sentence of one to four years. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.
"I just thought I was doing a friend a favor," Alexander said of his role.
He promised to be a "model citizen" on probation.
Cashmore, who pleaded guilty to accessory to robbery, received three years of probation with a suspended sentence of one to three years.
Ehrlich, once a close friend of Simpson, received three years of probation and a suspended sentence of 11/2 to four years. He pleaded guilty to attempted accessory to robbery and attempted burglary.
Outside court, Ehrlich said staying out of prison would allow him to care for his elderly parents in Florida.
He said Simpson misled him into helping on the day of the robbery, but he held no ill will toward him.
"Do I forgive him? Yes. Do I feel bad for him? Yes," Ehrlich said. "Do I hate him? No. He just made a stupid mistake."
Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0281.
I don't know if OJ was guilty of killing Nicole or not. Maybe he did it. Maybe he didn't do it. I don't know. But I have always thought that the LAPD did attempt to frame him for the murder of Nicole (even if he was guilty)!
Now 10 years after the trial we have some interesting info coming out from F. Lee Bailey
While I think OJ probably is an asshole I think he got screwed at his second trial in Nevada. I don't think he got a fair trail. I also think he was railroaded by the Nevada cops and prosecutors because they thought he beat the murder rap in Los Angeles. Last but not least it seems to me that he was convicted when the cops or DA gave everybody get out of jail plea bargains if they pointed the finger at OJ.
F. Lee Bailey: Paper proves OJ Simpson's innocence
Posted 1/11/2011 12:51 PM ET
By Clarke Canfield, Associated Press
YARMOUTH, Maine — Evidence of O.J Simpson's innocence was held back in the 1995 trial in which he was acquitted in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles, one of his former lawyers says in a new document.
In the 20,000-word document, F. Lee Bailey tells of four people who could have bolstered Simpson's case but never testified. He also gives an overview of the sensational trial from his own perspective.
Simpson was found not guilty. Most Americans are convinced that he is guilty, Bailey said, but the document might persuade some doubters that he is innocent.
Bailey wrote the document, "The Simpson Verdict," in 2007 as a proposal for a book that never materialized. He published it on his website Sunday.
"It's time somebody put out the real facts of the case," he told The Associated Press.
In the document, Bailey said the defense team was prepared to call four people who never testified -- a forensic scientist, an expert on battered women, a blood expert and the person whose possible testimony he says is the most important of the four: a man who might have seen the killers.
That witness, he wrote, saw a woman the night of the murders matching Nicole Simpson's description in an apparent confrontation with two men, neither of whom was O.J. Simpson. Upon hearing of the murders the next day, the witness recalled what he saw on a tape recording and wrote a detailed description and sketch of his observations.
But the defense team decided not to call any of the four to the witness stand out of fear that additional jurors would be dismissed and a mistrial declared if the eight-month trial didn't soon end, Bailey wrote. Bailey said Monday he thinks the real killers were out to collect a drug debt and killed Nicole Simpson and Goldman after mistaking them for their targets.
The document might sway a sector of the public into believing in Simpson's innocence in the 1995 case, Bailey said. But he knows there's another group whose minds couldn't be changed "with a sledgehammer," and thinks the trial damaged his reputation among that group.
"Among the rednecks of America, which there are many more than people seem to realize, it was terribly damaging," he said. "I got blamed for O.J.'s acquittal."
Bailey was part of Simpson's defense team when the former NFL star was acquitted in the June 1994 deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
Bailey, who now lives and works as a consultant in this town 10 miles north of Portland, said his agent asked him to write an overview of the Simpson case for a publisher who was interested in a book. But the idea was shelved following the turmoil and eventual cancellation of Simpson's book, "If I Did It," in which Simpson put forth a hypothetical description of the murders.
But Bailey has shared his document with several dozen people over the years, and a number of them have urged him to release it. His website developer suggested he put it online, and it first appeared on both his website and that of the Portland Press Herald newspaper.
Although Simpson was found not guilty in a court of law, Bailey said it's important to prove him innocent in the court of public opinion.
"O.J. has what I call the damnation of an acquittal," Bailey said.
The last time Bailey talked to Simpson was in 2008, the night before Simpson he was found guilty of kidnapping, armed robbery and other charges for his role in the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel. He is serving a nine- to 33-year sentence.
Bailey said he isn't shopping his document in hopes of a book deal -- although he wouldn't turn down the right offer -- but still hopes to get it into the public arena.
He's not surprised that the document got more than 20,000 hits its first day online.
"I can get a firestorm going anywhere in the United States by saying 'O.J.,'" he said.
Besides Simpson, Bailey has represented clients including Dr. Sam Sheppard, Patricia Hearst and Albert DeSalvo, the man who confessed to being the Boston Strangler, over the course of a storied legal career. He has also been a controversial figure, and has been barred from practicing law in Florida and Massachusetts.
Bailey was disbarred in Florida in 2001 for mishandling $6 million worth of stock for a client. After reviewing the Florida case, Massachusetts disbarred him two years later.
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Online: http://baileyandelliott.com
More articles on OJ Simpson's arrests!
