LAS VEGAS - The judge at the O.J. Simpson hearing says he will announce at 7 p.m. EST whether Simpson will go on trial. Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure says he wants time to consider the attorneys' arguments, his notes and exhibits. Kidnapping and robbery charges against Simpson should be dropped, his defense argued Wednesday after the close of testimony in a preliminary hearing on allegations that the former football star and armed companions stole items from sports memorabilia dealers. Defense attorney Gabriel Grasso argued to Bonaventure that it was unclear whether the prosecution was contending that the alleged kidnapping was the act of luring the two dealers to a hotel room or the actions that occurred during a confrontation in the room. Grasso also contended that the kidnapping counts did not meet the requirements of law. "This is clearly overcharging," Grasso said. Simpson also had no intent to steal because he only wanted to get back items he reasonably believed were his, Grasso said. Bonaventure was to decide at the end of the day whether Simpson, Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich should go to trial on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery. A conviction on the kidnapping count could result in a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction could mean mandatory prison time. Simpson and the other defendants did not testify in their own defense at the preliminary hearing. Attorneys for Stewart and Ehrlich presented wide-ranging arguments for charges to be tossed out, including attacks on the credibility of the prosecution's witnesses. Prosecutor Chris Owens disputed the credibility issue on grounds that the witnesses corroborated each other and there were recordings, video and photographs supporting elements of the case. Earlier, sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, 45, testified that he tried to make clear to an "irritated" O.J. Simpson during the hotel room confrontation that he had not stolen items from the former football star. Beardsley said he and another dealer, Bruce Fromong, agreed to a hotel room meeting with a memorabilia buyer he only was told would be a Las Vegas businessman When the hotel room door opened, a group of men including Simpson entered, he said. "Somebody yelled out, 'Police,'" said Beardsley, who cast furtive glances at Simpson from time to time during his testimony. "I was ordered to stand up. I was searched for weapons," he said. Beardsley said one man shoved Fromong into a corner at gunpoint and he saw another gun in the waistband of another man in the group. He said the only man he recognized was Simpson.
Clark County District Attorney David Roger asked Beardsley what Simpson said to him. "He was just basically a little upset," Beardsley said. "I think he felt violated and gave me a lecture." Beardsley added later, "I was trying to calm him down because I know that he wanted some answers. I could see it in his face. He wanted an explanation why we were there with his property." He described Simpson as "just irritated." "I think he was hurt that his property was there," Beardsley said. "Did you steal that property?" the prosecutor asked. "No," the witness said. "I wanted to make clear to him that I did not steal that property." He said he told Simpson the memorabilia came from a former partner of Fromong, Mike Gilbert. Beardsley said he was ordered to pack up the memorabilia, which had been laid out on a bed, and that the group left. He then called 911. In cross-examination, defense attorney Yale Galanter pressed Beardsley on a TV interview in which he said he only saw one gun during the incident, and on whether he had sought to make money off the incident. Beardsley, who is in custody at the Clark County jail on a California parole violation, testified the violation stemmed from a domestic violence incident. Michael "Spencer" McClinton testified Tuesday that Simpson asked him to bring guns and told him to use them to intimidate Beardsley and Fromong when the group entered the hotel room. "He said, `Show them your weapon and look menacing,'" McClinton said. The district attorney asked McClinton if he was paraphrasing. "He said that," McClinton replied. "There's no doubt in my mind. He said that." Minutes later, Simpson lawyer Grasso tried to show that McClinton, 49, changed his story after becoming the third co-defendant to accept a plea deal and agree to testify against Simpson. In 85 pages of transcript of a voluntary statement he gave police on Oct. 15, Grasso asked, did McClinton ever tell investigators that Simpson told him to bring a gun? "No," McClinton responded. "I guess I didn't." Simpson, 60, has maintained that no guns were displayed during the confrontation, 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's golfing buddy Walter "Goldie" Alexander testified Tuesday that Simpson instructed McClinton to draw his weapon before the group entered the room at the Palace Station hotel-casino. Alexander said he kept a weapon that McClinton gave him tucked into the waistband of his suit, but as soon as he saw McClinton waving his weapon and shouting orders at the memorabilia dealers he realized he was taking part in an armed robbery. Later, Galanter elicited from Alexander that he offered at one point to slant his testimony in Simpson's favor if he was paid. "I really felt that he was set up," Alexander said. "So I felt like I could lean toward that angle rather than telling the exact truth." Alexander said he was never paid. "So truth got left at the door because your testimony is for sale?" Galanter asked. "I told the truth," the witness said glumly. Charles Cashmore, who also struck a deal with prosecutors, testified against Simpson last week. ___ AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch contributed to this report.
By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent 6 minutes ago
LAS VEGAS - More than a decade after his acquittal on murder charges, O.J. Simpson will again stand trial. Now, he's counting on another jury to clear him of charges that could land him in prison for the rest of his life. The former football star said he wasn't surprised when a justice of the peace ordered him on Wednesday to defend himself against charges including kidnapping and armed robbery in a suspected sports memorabilia heist. "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. Prosecutors accuse Simpson of leading the suspected armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. The defendants are to enter their pleas on Nov. 28. Three of the men who accompanied Simpson, including two who said they carried guns, took plea deals and testified for the prosecution during the 3 1/2-day preliminary hearing. Defense attorneys characterized the witnesses as con artists and crooks out for a buck. Bonaventure said the testimony was an issue to be weighed by the court and that the defense had raised questions of "bought" testimony. He 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. A kidnapping conviction could result in a life sentence with possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction would require some time in prison. Simpson will spend the next two weeks in Miami golfing and spending time with his family before returning to Las Vegas to be arraigned, attorney Yale Galanter said. 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. Outside the courthouse, 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.
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," said attorney John Moran Jr., who represents Ehrlich. "Every witness up there was looking to sell testimony and make money off of this case." Prosecutor Chris 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." The witnesses corroborated one another's stories, and recordings, video and photographs supported the charges, Owens said. Michael "Spencer" McClinton, Walter "Goldie" Alexander and Charles Cashmore struck deals with prosecutors and testified against Simpson.
OJ Simpson to be arraigned on felony charges CNN - 1 hour ago (CNN) -- OJ Simpson was due in court Wednesday to be arraigned on charges that could send him to prison for life. OJ Simpson arrives at the courthouse in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
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