O.J. Simpson's Vegas Misadventure
Major events in the notorious football legend's armed robbery, kidnap case:
Aug. 21, 2007 Memorabilia dealer Thomas Riccio tells FBI agents that Simpson wants to televise a confrontation with a collector he believes is peddling stolen Simpson memorabilia.(Photo: Getty)
Sept. 12, 2007 Simpson checks into The Palms hotel-casino for a friend's wedding, parties late at a casino nightclub.
Sept. 13, 2007 Simpson contacts former golf buddies, Clarence Stewart, of North Las Vegas, and Walter Alexander, of Mesa, Ariz., who also is in Las Vegas for the wedding. They discuss a plan to take sports memorabilia from dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.About 7:30 p.m., police say, the three men and three others meet Riccio, rush into a hotel room at the Palace Station casino and seize items at gunpoint from Beardsley and Fromong. Beardsley and Fromong report incident as armed robbery. Simpson is questioned at Palms hotel.
(Photo: Getty)
Sept. 14, 2007 Police name Simpson as target of investigation. Simpson again is questioned by police. Simpson tells The Associated Press no guns were involved and some of the items belonged to him.
Sept. 15, 2007 Police arrest Alexander at McCarran International Airport, question him and charge him with assault and armed robbery. He is released without bail. Simpson attends wedding of friend, Tom Scotto, at the Little White Wedding Chapel.
Sept. 16, 2007 Simpson is arrested at The Palms, questioned by police and booked into the Clark County jail on felony armed robbery, assault and conspiracy charges. A judge orders him held without bail. Police announce they are seeking several other men. (Photo: AP)
Sept. 17, 2007 Stewart surrenders to police, turns over items believed to be taken from Beardsley and Fromong, and is released on $78,000 bail. Fromong suffers heart attack, is hospitalized at Los Angeles hospital.(Photo: AP)
Sept. 18, 2007 Michael McClinton surrenders to police. District attorney formally charges Simpson, McClinton, Stewart and Alexander with nine felonies including kidnapping, which carries a possible life sentence. Simpson charged with additional felony count of coercion with a deadly weapon.
Sept. 19, 2007 Judge sets $125,000 bail for Simpson, who posts bond, is released from jail and returns home to Florida. Beardsley is arrested in Las Vegas on California parole violation. Charles Cashmore, of Las Vegas, surrenders.(Photo: AP)
Sept. 20, 2007 Beardsley appears in Las Vegas court, waives extradition to California, is ordered held without bail.
Sept. 21, 2007 Cashmore is arraigned and Charles Ehrlich, of Miami, turns himself in at court on felony charges. Judge sets bail for Ehrlich at $32,000 and $28,000 for Cashmore.
Oct. 15, 2007 Cashmore and Alexander cut plea deals in return for testimony against Simpson. Cashmore agrees to plead guilty to being an accessory to robbery, Alexander to conspiracy to commit robbery.
Oct. 24, 2007 New charges of felony coercion are filed against Simpson, Stewart, Ehrlich and McClinton, bringing the total number of charges to 12.
Oct. 29, 2007 McClinton agrees to plead guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery in return for testimony against Simpson. McClinton's lawyer says his client will tell the court Simpson asked him to bring guns to the hotel room.(Photo: AP)
Nov. 8, 2007 Simpson appears in Las Vegas Justice Court for a preliminary hearing. The session 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.(Photo: AP)
Nov. 9, 2007 Day 2 of the preliminary hearing. The proceedings were continued until Nov. 13 after Charles Cashmore, who made a plea deal with prosecutors, testified about his role in Simpson's effort to retrieve sports memorabilia and personal items he claimed were his. Four of eight witnesses expected to be called by prosecutors had yet to take the stand.(Photo: AP)
Nov. 13, 2007 Simpson's preliminary hearing resumes and two former co-defendants took the stand. Michael McClinton, 49, testified that Simpson asked him to bring guns and told him to use them to intimidate memorabilia dealers. Walter Alexander, 46, testified that Simpson instructed McClinton to draw his weapon before the group entered the room at the Palace Station hotel-casino. Simpson's attorneys seemed to diminish the credibility of the two men during cross-examination.(Photo: AP)
Nov. 14, 2007 The preliminary hearing wraps up and a Las Vegas justice of the peace rules that O.J. Simpson and two other men should stand trial on all 12 charges they face, including kidnapping and armed robbery charges that could land Simpson in prison for the rest of his life. The defendants are to enter formal pleas to the charges on Nov. 28.(Photo: AP)
Nov. 28, 2007 Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles "Charlie" Ehrlich pleaded "not guilty" at their arraignment on 12 charges, including kidnapping and armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.(Photo: AP)
Jan. 11, 2008 Simpson is taken into custody in Florida and is brought back to Las Vegas based on allegations that he violated terms of his release on bail, a court official said. A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 16 at the request of Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who filed a motion to revoke Simpson's bail. The District Attorney alleges that Simpson, identifying himself as "Miguel," telephoned Clarence "C.J." Stewart on Nov. 16 and expressed frustration about Stewart's preliminary hearing testimony, court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
Jan. 16, 2008 An angry judge doubled Simpson's bail to $250,000 for violating terms of his original bail by attempting to contact a co-defendant in his armed robbery case. Simpson, sitting clad in jail attire in the Las Vegas court, grimaced as the amount was announced and meekly acknowledged that he understood. Simpson posted the newly established bond and was released from jail just after 11 p.m. (Photo: AP)
March 7, 2008 Defense lawyers said a Nevada judge has agreed to delay O.J. Simpson's trial on armed robbery and kidnapping charges to Sept. 8. Lawyers Yale Galanter for Simpson and John Moran Jr. for co-defendant John Ehrlich emerged from a meeting with District Court Judge Jackie Glass and said she agreed to give them more time to prepare for trial.
Sept. 8, 2008 Jury selection begins in Simpson's kidnapping and robbery trial with a judge determined to find a jury unaffected by his 1995 murder trial. "What happened then, happened then," Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass told prospective jurors. Simpson has a co-defendant this time, his friend Clarence "C.J." Stewart.(Photo: AP)
Sept. 15, 2008 O.J. Simpson flashed a smile and gave a thumbs-up sign as he arrived to court in Las Vegas for opening statements and the start of testimony in his robbery-kidnap trial. His attorneys are expected to tell the all-white jury of nine women and three men that the former football star and five other men was trying to retrieve keepsakes and familyheirlooms he hoped to pass on to his children.
Oct. 3, 2008 Thirteen years to the day after being acquitted of killing his wife and her friend in Los Angeles, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room. Simpson, 61, and co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, were convicted of all 12 counts after jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours. He released a heavy sigh as the charges were read and was immediately taken into custody. Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after his murder acquittal, could spend the rest of his life in prison. (Photo: AP)
Nov. 7, 2008 Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass denies request by Simpson and Stewart for new trial, saying the issues raised by lawyers for Simpson and Stewart did not rise to the level of granting another trial. Glass acknowledged during the hearing that her ruling paves the way for Simpson and Stewart to appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
Dec. 5, 2008 Judge sentences Simpson to maximum of 33 years in prison and Stewart to 27 years. Simpson could be eligible for parole in 9 years, Stewart after 7 1/2. Prior to Judge Jackie Glass handing down the sentence, Simpson apologized in a rambling and emotional 5-minute declaration saying he didn't mean to steal from anybody when he tried to retrieve memorabilia. The judge said several times that her sentence in the Las Vegas case had nothing to do with Simpson's 1994 acquittal in the slaying of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.(Photo: AP)
Dec. 9, 2008 The four former O.J. Simpson co-defendants who took plea deals and testified against the former football star were sentenced to probation in Las Vegas. Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass lectured the men, but accepted a state sentencing recommendation that they serve no prison time. Instead she imposed various terms of probation, ranging from three to eight years on Michael McClinton (pictured left), Walter Alexander, Charles Ehrlich and Charles Cashmore. The eight-year probation sentence for McClinton, who acknowledged bringing guns to the confrontation, drew an angry outburst from Bruce Fromong, one of the two memorabilia dealers robbed by Simpson and the others.(Photo: AP)
Sources: CBS, AP, Las Vegas police arrest reports, Las Vegas Justice Court records
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