Simpson Hit With Kidnapping Charges

By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY,AP
Posted: 2007-09-18 23:47:38

LAS VEGAS (Sept. 18) - Prosecutors filed formal charges Tuesday against O.J. Simpson , alleging the fallen football star committed 10 felonies, including kidnapping, in the armed robbery of sports memorabilia collectors in a casino-hotel room.



Simpson was arrested Sunday after a collector reported a group of armed men charged into his hotel room and took several items Simpson claimed belonged to him.

Simpson, 60, was booked on five felony counts, including suspicion of assault and robbery with a deadly weapon. District Attorney David Roger filed those charges and added five other felonies, including kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, according to court documents.

Simpson, accused along with three other men, faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted in the robbery at the Palace Station casino. He was being held without bail and was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

According to the charges, Simpson and the others went to the hotel room under the pretext of brokering a deal with Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, two longtime collectors of Simpson memorabilia.

Once in the room, Simpson prevented one of the collectors from calling 911 on his cell phone "by ripping it out of Fromong's hand" while one or more accomplices pointed or displayed a handgun.

The complaint does not specify which of the men involved was carrying the weapon.

The kidnapping charge accuses the men of detaining each of the men "against his will, and without his consent, for the purpose of committing a robbery."

Fromong, a crucial witness in the case, was in critical condition in a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday, after suffering a heart attack Monday, according to a spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Beardsley has said he does not want to pursue the case.

Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said he planned to 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," Galanter said.

Simpson has insisted that he was not armed and that he went to the hotel simply to retrieve property that had been stolen from him.

"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.'"

Witnesses and authorities have said that they don't believe Simpson had a gun but that some of the men who accompanied him during the confrontation were armed.

Two others named in the complaint, Walter Alexander and Clarence Stewart, have been arrested and released.

A fourth suspect, Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, surrendered to police Tuesday. Police describe him as "a key player" in the suspected theft. Police were seeking two more suspects, who had not been identified.

Some of the missing goods, including autographed footballs, were turned in Monday by Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, before he was released on $78,000 bail.

Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., said Tuesday that Simpson may have been tricked because another 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." He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer, Tom Riccio.

Riccio, who reportedly sold the audio to the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com, said Tuesday that Simpson hatched the idea himself.

"O.J. came up with some way-out ideas before I finally agreed to the last one, which didn't go the way he said it would go. I didn't do anything wrong was the bottom line," Riccio told Fox News Channel.

Simpson and the other three men are charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping; two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon; burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon; two counts of assault with a deadly weapon; conspiracy to commit kidnapping; conspiracy to commit robbery; and a misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime.

Simpson also faces one charge of coercion with use of a deadly weapon, a felony.

Asked whether the number of new charges seemed extreme, given the circumstances, a leading Las Vegas defense attorney said prosecutors often aim high.

"It's typical for them to allege as many crimes as they believe they can establish probable cause for, knowing that to some degree it may not completely pan out that way. It adds to the pressure on the defendant for the purpose of negotiation," said David Chesnoff, adding that the charges make it likely Simpson will be asked to post a "very high bail."

Simpson was acquitted more than a decade ago of the 1994 killings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman's son, Ron. He was later found liable in a wrongful-death trial.

The civil jury returned a $33.5 million judgment against Simpson, but it remains largely unpaid. The Goldman family has waged a campaign to claim Simpson's assets since then.

Earlier Tuesday in California, a judge gave Goldman's father, Fred, a week to come up with a list of sports memorabilia that Simpson is accused of stealing from the Vegas hotel room, but he refused to order Simpson to hand over his earnings from everything from autograph signings to video games.

In court in Santa Monica, David Cook, an attorney for Fred Goldman, accused Simpson of "sitting on a treasure trove of sports memorabilia" while ignoring the multimillion-dollar judgment. But both Cook and Simpson lawyer Ronald Slates said they had no idea what the items were, and Slates argued it was unclear whether Simpson really owned any of them.

Cook also filed a new request to get Simpson's watch, which he described as a Rolex Submariner that he saw the former football star wearing in a photo featured on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Such watches sell for $5,000 or more, he said.

He also argued that Simpson was wealthy, citing a 2003 tax form indicating income of $400,000.

Slates noted Simpson has expenses for his three children. "He has a right, like everybody else, to be protected (under the law)," Slates said.

Slates also said Simpson has repeatedly offered to settle the judgment with the Goldman family.

"It is inconceivable that the father of a murder victim would sit and haggle," Cook said.

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Ken Ritter and Ryan Nakashima in Las Vegas, Robert Jablon in Santa Monica, Calif., and Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles.


Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

If this is not an abuse of power, I don't know what is.

uPtoWnNY said:

That is simply not true. Maybe in your country but certainly not in mine.

Imago said:

It is if we lived in an ideal world full of ideal mindsets. But who would tune these mindsets? Some fascist 'norm' as a great equlibrium of perception? Look at it this way - I don't see a Darfur thread acting as a magnet for personal passions and unresolvable race issues the way an OJ one will. This topic will burn, while plane chrash memories will disappear with the next one. The 'media' as 'they' are labelled is not a evil one-headed monster wanting to fuck with your head - it's many people with many agendas and perspectives, good and bad - again each working to an individual persepctive.
So, of course OJ should make the headlines over a plane crash. The one thing all news outlets wanna do is sell papers/win webhits or whatever. They want your attention. It's certainly not righteous, but it's understandable. Regarding OJ, I'm Scottish so Hubble would struggle to locate my interest. But, as always, let he who has not sinned cast the first stone and all that. I don't think murder is always reprehensible. Even Jahweh wanted all those who didn't believe in him slayed. Like Leonard says, I've seen the future baby and it's murder.

Number23 said:

I thought you saw the future and it was Cannelloni?

Spookymuffin said:

I thought the future was garlic bread

mdiver said:

thought it was ORANGE

jami0mckay said:

Fuckit i am way confused.....won't some bugger tell me what the future is?

jami0mckay said:

oh my god lame!

Spookymuffin said:

stoopid caffeine withdrawl symptoms

JustErin said:

I can't speak for other countries, but selectve outrage about crime is as American as guns, motherhood & apple pie.

uPtoWnNY said:

Mm. Well, the origin of most American customs and foods can be traced back to Europe without much effort - including apple pie, which is not American at all. Numerous toothless peasants (plebes in Latin) in Britian began exploring the pleasures of meat pies in the early 14th century, with fruits such as apples being substituted in traditional meat pies with the same basic pastry and served as dessert. Apple pie was actually a favorite dessert of Sir Walter Raleigh during the reign of Elizabeth I. But then, during the mid 1600s, the bold Oliver Cromwell banned many pleasures throughout the Commonwealth, including all pies. Silence that bilious whisper of cynicism in your skull. This is all true. Fortunately under the reign of King Charles II in 1660, England then enjoyed a much more pleasant lifestyle, as the King allowed them many pleasures previously denied by Cromwell, among them pies.

Pies!

Number23 said:

Oh shit!

Number23 said:

Although Mince Pies weren't unbanned you should know. And Christmas pudding remains illegal to this day.

Spookymuffin said:

And dont you dare ask for a cream horn in England....you get hung for that shit!
[Edited 9/19/07 7:22am]

Spookymuffin said:

Fascinating.

Number23 said:

Listen, you Scottish Hitler, I merely attempted to chime in.

Spookymuffin said:

Does that make you Goering,Himmler or Borrmann?

Spookymuffin said:

That's what Albert Speer told the judge at Nuremberg.

Number23 said:

Omitting, of course, the 'Listen you Scottish Hitler' part.

Number23 said:

It would be wrong to put OJ in prison. Who would continue his search for the real killers?

http://www.youtube.com/wa...ewjtZPlEgw

I've never seen a judge with a ponytail. This case will further EXPOSE the legal system 4 what it is.
[Edited 9/19/07 9:07am]