Guilty OJ Simpson facing life in jail after kidnap and armed robbery trial

Published on Friday 3 October 2008 09:45

OJ Simpson faces spending the rest of his life behind bars today after being found guilty of kidnapping and armed robbery in Las Vegas.

An all-white jury of nine women and three men unanimously found him guilty of all 12 charges after more than 13 continuous hours of deliberations, which started 13 years to the day after he was cleared of a double murder in America's "trial of the century".

The former American football star kidnapped two sports memorabilia dealers and robbed them at gunpoint in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino in Las Vegas on September 13 last year, the jury at the Clark County District Court found.

Simpson, 61, who now lives in Miami, Florida, faces up to life in prison when sentenced on December 5.

It will mark the lowest point of a momentous fall from grace for the former actor and National Football League star whose high-profile 1995 trial saw him cleared of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, by a predominantly black jury in Los Angeles.

The 1995 verdict shocked the world and prompted debates over the racial elements of the case and the suitability of televised trials.

In Las Vegas today, Simpson blew out his cheeks, sighed heavily and nodded as the verdicts were read out.

District Attorney David Roger, prosecuting, said Simpson was the leader of a conspiracy last year and none of the men with him cared about the memorabilia in the room.

Deputy district attorney Chris Owens added that Simpson took a gang of men to the Palace Station to retrieve items he lost while trying to hide them from the family of Ronald Goldman and the California court which levied a 33.5 million dollar (18.9m) civil wrongful death judgment against Simpson.

He urged the jury to uncover the "true face" of the former star, and said it was "not necessarily the one he puts out to the world".

Four of the five men who accompanied Simpson to the casino – Charles Cashmore, Walter "Goldie" Alexander, Michael "Spencer" McClinton and Charles Ehrlich – have accepted plea deals and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

The fifth, Clarence "CJ" Stewart, 54, was his golfing friend and co-defendant in the trial.

The former star and Stewart were both found guilty of all 12 charges they faced.

These were two counts of first degree kidnapping, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of coercion with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping and robbery.