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Simpson hearing draws media circus

The football legend is released on bail after three nights in jail.

LAS VEGAS - In a scene of legal deja vu, a grayer, heavier O.J. Simpson stood handcuffed in court Wednesday to face charges that could put him behind bars for life. The prosecutor who failed to get him a dozen years ago was there to watch, and news cameras tracked his every move as if they were covering a slow-speed chase.

But as Simpson made his $125,000 bail on charges including kidnapping and armed robbery, legal experts were questioning: Could a former football star who beat a double-murder rap really do hard time for a crime that sounds like a bad movie?

Police have laid out a case that makes Simpson the leader in a tense, armed holdup of two sports memorabilia collectors. Some of the facts - including a curious recording of the confrontation - don't seem so clear-cut.

Legal experts say that issues such as who had rightful ownership of the goods and the reputation of witnesses in the sometimes less-than-reputable world of memorabilia trading could cloud the prosecution's case.

Simpson has insisted he was merely retrieving items that were stolen from him earlier.

Alfred Beardsley, one of the collectors who says he was robbed at gunpoint by Simpson and several other men, told NBC's Today show before Simpson's hearing that he didn't think an audiotape made at the scene was accurate. Beardsley was arrested Wednesday on a parole violation for unauthorized travel. He had served time for stalking a woman.

The man who arranged the meeting between Simpson and the two collectors, Tom Riccio, has a criminal record. The other victim, Bruce Fromong, was recovering from a heart attack.

Simpson, standing in court in a blue jail uniform and handcuffs, furrowed his brow as the judge read the list of charges against him. Gone was the slight smirk he flashed when he was arrested.

He answered quietly in a hoarse voice and nodded as the judge gave restrictions for his release, including surrendering his passport and having no contact with co-defendants or potential witnesses.

Simpson did not enter a plea.

The oddity of the case has attracted a swarm of media, including Marcia Clark, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Simpson for the 1994 slayings of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman. Clark was reporting for Entertainment Tonight.

Simpson, 60, was arrested Sunday after a collector reported that armed men charged into a hotel room at the Palace Station casino and took several items.

The Heisman Trophy winner spent three nights in jail after being charged with kidnapping, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, coercion with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit a crime.

Four other men have been arrested on many of the same charges, and police were still looking for another unidentified suspect. Charles Howard Cashmore, 40, surrendered to police Wednesday and brought in items that are believed to have been taken, police said without elaborating. Walter Alexander, 46, and Clarence Stewart, 53, were arrested and released pending court appearances. Michael McClinton, 49, surrendered Tuesday.

[Last modified September 20, 2007, 01:32:36]