Simpson to Stand Trial on Robbery and Kidnap Charges
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WENN.com
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Thursday, November 15, 2007
HOLLYWOOD - O.J. Simpson will stand trial on armed robbery and kidnap charges, a judge has ruled.
The football star-turned-actor will face a criminal trial--set to begin on Nov. 28--in which he will face the charges for his part in a raid on a memorabilia collector in Las Vegas in September.
Before Wednesday's ruling at Clark County Justice Center in Nevada, Simpson's lawyers pleaded with Judge Joseph Bonaventure to dismiss the case because there was not enough evidence against their client.
But the judge ignored their requests and ruled that he had heard enough during a four-day hearing to call for a trial.
Simpson and two accomplices, Charles Ehrlich and Clarence Stewart, face life imprisonment if they're found guilty.
Three other co-defendants agreed to testify against Simpson as part of a plea agreement.
The Naked Gun star and his five associates allegedly stormed into collector Alfred Beardsley's hotel suite at the Palace Station in Las Vegas and removed memorabilia items Simpson maintains were stolen from a storage facility.
The collector and an associate claim guns were pulled during the standoff, but Beardsley told the court on Wednesday that Simpson wasn't one of the men brandishing a weapon.
Simpson was famously acquitted of criminal charges for the 1994 murders of Ron Goldman and ex-wife Nicole Brown. Speaking earlier this month, Goldman's father, Fred, expressed his delight at the prospect of Simpson being jailed for the Las Vegas crime.
He says, "If he gets sent to jail, that would be OK, I guess. I wanted the death penalty for him, but if he gets sentenced to jail and dies there, that would have to do.
"I hear he might get as much as 90 years. Good. I hate him. I feel vindictive."
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