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Simpson burst in, witness testifies

The results of the hearing will determine whether Simpson goes to trial.

By Associated press
Published November 9, 2007

LAS VEGAS - One of two memorabilia dealers allegedly robbed by O.J. Simpson testified Thursday that the former football star burst into a hotel room with a handful of other men, including one wielding a gun, and carried off hundreds of collectors' items.

Bruce Fromong said he had expected to meet with an anonymous buyer on Sept. 13, when Simpson arrived and shouted that the items belonged to him.

"O.J. was screaming ... 'this all belongs to me. You stole this from me. Let's pack up. Let's get out of here,'" Fromong said.

Simpson, 60, and two co-defendants are charged with robbery, kidnapping and other offenses. Thursday's hearing was to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to take them to trial.

Fromong, who testified he has known Simpson since the early 1990s, said the confrontation lasted no more than five or six minutes and ended with the group stuffing hundreds of items into pillowcases and leaving the Palace Station hotel-casino.

Some of the items had nothing to do with Simpson, Fromong said, but were lithographs of football great Joe Montana and items signed by baseball stars Duke Snider and Pete Rose that he thought he could sell.

At one point, as everything was being packed up, Fromong said he told Simpson: "O.J., those are my Joe Montana lithos.

During his cross-examination, Simpson attorney Gabriel Grasso attempted to show that Fromong planned to profit from the confrontation, asking him if he called the television show Inside Edition before contacting police.

"Nine-one-one was already being called," he said.

Fromong was the first of eight witnesses prosecutors expected to call. The hearing was to continue today.

On Thursday, Simpson arrived at the courthouse in a black Hummer, surrounded by a contingent of lawyers and about a dozen uniformed officers. He did not stop to talk or make eye contact as he made his way into the building and through a metal detector.

Simpson and co-defendants Clarence "C.J." Stewart and Charles Ehrlich face 12 charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 01:42:58]