Judge Will Not Dismiss Charges Against O.J. Simpson

After hearing four days of sometimes dramatic testimony, a Las Vegas judge Wednesday ruled that there was enough evidence to send O.J. Simpson to trial for the alleged armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers.

Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure found that prosecutors had presented enough evidence during a preliminary hearing for Simpson and two co-defendants to stand trial on all the charges against them. The former football star and co-defendants Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich have been charged with 11 felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping. If convicted, the kidnapping charges alone carry a sentence of up to life in prison.

Simpson is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 28, when he is expected to plead not guilty. He is not expected to go to trial until next year.

Bonaventure's decision caps four days of testimony in which Simpson's associates and one-time friends described a botched plot to confront memorabilia dealers Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong inside their room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino. Simpson has said he was only trying to recover personal mementos that he said were stolen from him, including the suit that he wore the day he was acquitted of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Though the decision to send the case to trial was expected, Simpson's lawyers had argued earlier Wednesday that the kidnapping and robbery charges should be dismissed, and they attacked the credibility of the witnesses against Simpson. "This is clearly overcharging," said Gabriel Grasso, one of Simpson's attorneys.

Bonaventure disagreed, saying that most of the issues raised by Simpson's attorneys, such as the credibility of the witnesses, were for the jury to decide. In the preliminary hearing, prosecutors only had to show enough evidence to persuade the judge of "probable cause" -- sufficient evidence to reasonably believe that Simpson and his two co-defendants committed the crimes with which they have been charged.

After the hearing, Simpson's attorneys expressed confidence in the ultimate outcome of the case. "My only regret…is that we didn't have a jury seated now," said Yale Galanter, one of Simpson's lawyers. If there was jury, he said, "my client would be on his way home and this would all be over."

The hearing offered a preview of the prosecution's case, which will probably rely on a cast of colorful witnesses, some of whom have less than pristine pasts and have not always fared well under cross examination by Simpson's attorneys. Three of Simpson's co-defendants have agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges and testify against him.

Two of those witnesses, Michael McClinton and Walter Alexander, testified that Simpson asked them to bring guns to the meeting in the hotel room. McClinton testified Tuesday that Simpson told him to brandish his gun to intimidate Beardsley and Fromong.

"He said, 'Show them your weapon and look menacing,'" McClinton testified.

Simpson, who did not testify at the hearing, has said he did not ask anyone to bring guns to the meeting and was not aware that any guns were drawn.