Revised charges against OJ Simpson

LAS VEGAS – New charges of felony coercion were filed against OJ Simpson and three co-defendants in the alleged armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.

Wednesday’s revised complaint also drops charges against Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore, who pleaded guilty on Tuesday to reduced charges. Alexander, Simpson’s golfing buddy, and Cashmore, at times a day labourer, disc jockey and bartender, have agreed to testify at a preliminary hearing against the former football star and the other men who went to a Las Vegas casino hotel room on September 13 to retrieve items that Simpson said belonged to him.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, photos of Simpson with the Heisman Trophy, and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100 000, according to police reports.Simpson’s celebrity and the fact that many people feel he was wrongly acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, could weigh heavily against him and may emerge as the dominant theme in the case.The revised complaint increases to 12 the number of charges against Simpson, Clarence Stewart, Michael McClinton and Charles Ehrlich.The four are scheduled to appear for the preliminary hearing November 8 on felonies – including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion – and one gross misdemeanour, conspiracy to commit a crime.A kidnapping conviction alone could result in a sentence of life in prison with parole.Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said on Wednesday that he understood McClinton was accepting a plea deal, including an agreement to plead guilty to robbery without the use of a gun.”It’s all the same,” Galanter said.”Same prosecutor.Same plea deal.”The new coercion charges allege that the men threatened collectibles dealer Bruce Fromong and took his cell phone, while taking a baseball cap and sunglasses at gunpoint from memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley.Conviction on felony coercion carries a sentence of up to six years in prison.Stewart’s lawyer, Jose Pallares, denied allegations in the revised complaint that Simpson and Stewart conspired to persuade the others to tell authorities that no guns were used in the confrontation.According to their lawyers and police reports, Alexander and Cashmore can testify that guns were brought to the Palace Station casino hotel room.Simpson, who lives in Miami, has maintained no guns were involved and he did not tell anyone to bring guns.Alexander pleaded guilty on Tuesday to felony conspiracy to commit robbery, and Roger said he would seek a suspended sentence, which could get Alexander probation instead of one to six years in prison.Nampa-APAlexander, Simpson’s golfing buddy, and Cashmore, at times a day labourer, disc jockey and bartender, have agreed to testify at a preliminary hearing against the former football star and the other men who went to a Las Vegas casino hotel room on September 13 to retrieve items that Simpson said belonged to him.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, photos of Simpson with the Heisman Trophy, and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100 000, according to police reports.Simpson’s celebrity and the fact that many people feel he was wrongly acquitted in 1995 of murdering his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, could weigh heavily against him and may emerge as the dominant theme in the case.The revised complaint increases to 12 the number of charges against Simpson, Clarence Stewart, Michael McClinton and Charles Ehrlich.The four are scheduled to appear for the preliminary hearing November 8 on felonies – including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion – and one gross misdemeanour, conspiracy to commit a crime.A kidnapping conviction alone could result in a sentence of life in prison with parole.Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter said on Wednesday that he understood McClinton was accepting a plea deal, including an agreement to plead guilty to robbery without the use of a gun.”It’s all the same,” Galanter said.”Same prosecutor.Same plea deal.”The new coercion charges allege that the men threatened collectibles dealer Bruce Fromong and took his cell phone, while taking a baseball cap and sunglasses at gunpoint from memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley.Conviction on felony coercion carries a sentence of up to six years in prison.Stewart’s lawyer, Jose Pallares, denied allegations in the revised complaint that Simpson and Stewart conspired to persuade the others to tell authorities that no guns were used in the confrontation.According to their lawyers and police reports, Alexander and Cashmore can testify that guns were brought to the Palace Station casino hotel room.Simpson, who lives in Miami, has maintained no guns were involved and he did not tell anyone to bring guns.Alexander pleaded guilty on Tuesday to felony conspiracy to commit robbery, and Roger said he would seek a suspended sentence, which could get Alexander probation instead of one to six years in prison.Nampa-AP