OJ Simpson to stand trial over armed raid

OJ Simpson will stand trial for kidnapping and armed robbery, a court ruled today.

The former American football star and actor faces 12 charges over an incident involving the alleged theft of sports memorabilia at the Palace Station Casino in Las Vegas on September 13.

The 60-year-old faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted.

Two other men, Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich, are also charged in connection with the incident.

Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure made his decision following four days of testimony at the Clark County Court in Las Vegas.

Ordering Simpson, who was wearing a grey suit with a white shirt and black and white tie, to stand, Mr Bonaventure said: “Based on my findings today, you are all ordered bound over and held to answer to all of the charges.”

He ordered them to appear before a trial judge on November 28 at District Court Five.

The issue of whether any weapons were involved has been central to the hearing.

Simpson has maintained in interviews and through his lawyers that he never saw any guns, or asked anyone to bring them, when he and a group of men entered the hotel room in search of sports memorabilia.

Simpson 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 cleared of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, after a high-profile trial in 1995.

He has maintained his innocence over the 1994 killings.

The incident occurred as Simpson’s book about the killings of his ex-wife and her friend, entitled If I Did It: Confessions Of The Killer, was published in the US.

In July, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded the rights to his book to Mr Goldman’s family to help satisfy a €38m (€25.8m) wrongful death judgment against Simpson.

After the decision, Simpson told reporters: “This is what we expected.

“If I have any disappointment it’s that I wish a jury was here. As always, I rely on the jury system.”

Simpson, Stewart and Ehrlich did not give evidence at the hearing.

Earlier, Simpson’s lawyer, Gabriel Grasson, said charges against his client should be dropped and in their closing arguments, lawyers for Stewart and Ehrlich questioned the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses.

But Chris Owens, prosecuting, said the witnesses corroborated each other’s stories and that recordings, video and photographs supported the case.

Sports memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, 45, told the court he tried to make clear to an “irritated” Simpson during the confrontation that he had not stolen items from him.

Mr Beardsley said he did not steal any of the items and that he told Simpson the memorabilia came from a former partner of dealer Bruce Fromong.

Simpson “felt violated and gave me a lecture”, Mr Beardsley said.

Yesterday, Michael “Spencer” McClinton told the court Simpson asked him to bring guns and told him to use them to intimidate Beardsley and Fromong.

Simpson’s golfing friend, Walter “Goldie” Alexander, said the star wanted them to bring “heat” to show they meant business.

He said Simpson told McClinton to draw his weapon before the group entered the room at the Palace Station hotel-casino.

McClinton, Alexander and a third man involved in the incident, Charles Cashmore, struck deals with prosecutors and agreed to testify against Simpson.