Case may be unraveling though ambitious DA will try to become the man that tackled OJ
By Stacey Silberman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/1/07 – O.J. Simpson went into the now infamous Palace Station Hotel & Casino September 13, to get his personal “stuff” back. “I didn’t care about the memorabilia, I wanted the family stuff,” said Simpson to detectives after the alleged armed robbery. “These guys know me” and “These guys are afraid ‘cause of the Turnover orders.”
He was referring to a court order to turn over of evidence of Simpson’s income stemming from the $34 million civil judgment against him in the deaths of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. One of the alleged victims Alfred Beardsley had ties to the Goldman family and the man who “tipped” Simpson, Thomas Riccio, had murky financial motives.
It is speculated that this “turnover order” was key in what Simpson called “sting operation,” which resulted in multiple felony charges last week for the Juice. But to his surprise, Simpson may have fallen prey to a sting against himself that would ferret out his unreported memorabilia sales.
The case may be unraveling quickly, according to observing attorneys as many of the players have arrest records and conflicting testimony that may not stand up in court. Many legal experts are debating the Simpson case wondering how far it might go and whether prosecutors will be able to get a conviction for the multiple felonies charged against him and his alleged co-conspirators, by Las Vegas law enforcement.
According to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, “we’re going to have to figure out who the victim is here, and who the good guys are and who the bad guys are.” At this point “it’s really, it’s not clear. Though I have to be fair to the government. They have not laid out their case,” he told Anderson Cooper.
Simpson is now charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, a misdemeanor; conspiracy to commit kidnapping, a felony; conspiracy to commit robbery, a felony; burglary while in possession of deadly weapon, a felony; two counts of first degree kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, both felonies; two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon, both felonies; two counts of assault with use of a deadly weapon, both felonies; and coercion with use of a deadly weapon, another felony offense.
Thomas Riccio, the owner of a California auction house and the questionable individual who audio taped the conversations, before, during and after the alleged crimes, played a huge role in how this situation came to pass. And he was the first one to cash-in on Simpson’s newest criminal episode.
The other victims involved in the case are Beardsley and Bruce Fromong. Beardsley was arrested following the robbery and imprisoned, on probation violation charges stemming from a past stalking incident. Fromong is recovering from a massive heart attack he suffered following the debacle.
Memorabilia dealer and Simpson business associate Fromong told “Larry King Live” from his hospital bed, regarding the stolen items that, “There was a lot of stuff that was taken there that I have paid OJ for the autographs. I can prove that I designed and manufactured some of the footballs that were made there. Those were my footballs. The photos and stuff that were there, he was paid for. That was my stuff.”
So now the question remains, who really owns the “stuff?”
Another interesting report made by Fox News, claims Beardsley had been dealing in Simpson memorabilia since 1982. He is also alleged to have been involved with Goldman and his collection attorneys for more than a decade.
“Sources say Beardsley was a source of financial information for the Goldmans in 1996 during the civil trial, and helped them win their enormous settlement,” said the Fox story. “Beardsley has always stayed in the Simpson mix. In 1999, he took Simpson’s side when the former football star’s Heisman trophy was being sold at auction. It’s believed that he bought the 1968 Heisman trophy.”
According to the same story, “Beardsley was subpoenaed in 2004 to testify for Goldman attorney Peter Csato, when they were trying to trace Simpson assets received in the sale of memorabilia.
It was also reported that court papers revealed that Beardsley had “knowledge” of Simpson’s “financial condition” and of existing “non-exempt property, which may be ordered to be applied to the satisfaction of the judgment.”
Then there’s the Riccio factor.
As documented in the original police report posted onTheSmokingGun.com, Fromong’s statement says that it was Beardsley who called him a few days before the Las Vegas meeting. He told Fromong that Thomas Riccio, a California auction house owner had a wealthy buyer interested in expensive Simpson memorabilia. Based on Fromong’s relationship with Beardsley, he agreed to the arrangement in Vegas at Riccio’s Palace Station Hotel room on September 13 at 7pm.
According to Riccio, he had told Simpson about the supposed Fromong items, out of the goodness of his heart. According to Simpson, Riccio had a list of items that O.J. wanted to retrieve, including the suit from the acquittal.
After contacting Simpson they allegedly hatched a plan, which Riccio says was different then what actually happened. According to Riccio, O.J. was just going to get back what was his. Simpson believed that his ex-associate Mike Gilbert had sold the items to Fromong illegally and without his permission.
In response to the allegations by O.J., ex-business associate Mike Gilbert told Anderson Cooper, “I was in the bedroom upstairs (at O.J.’s house following murder acquittal). It (the suit) was sitting on the floor in his closet. He looked down. ‘He said, here, take this. You know, you can probably use it more than I can. If you don’t take it, somebody else is going to walk in and just walk out with it.’ So I took it.” Gilbert says that he still has the suit.
Riccio claimed that he had no idea O.J. would bring a group of thugs with guns, but just in case something did go wrong, he taped the whole entire thing from beginning to end.
He said he sold the tape to TMZ.
Another piece of the puzzle given by Fromong is in reference to his statement “that I have paid O.J. for the autographs.” When did Fromong pay OJ for the “stuff?” Also, if photographs were bought, it’s possible that they were duplicated allowing the seller to keep original copies of sentimental value.
To find answers to many of these questions and more, prosecutors and journalists will follow the money.
After Simpson was slapped with the Brown and Goldman family’s multi-million dollar judgment, he was forced to auction off most of his personal belongings, leaving his Brentwood home to be taken by the bank to pay his many creditors. This left Simpson virtually broke at the time, following two expensive trials.
First was the widely publicized 1994 racially tense double murder trial, which acquitted Simpson of murdering ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The acquittal was soon followed by the 1997 Santa Monica civil trial, which found Simpson liable for their deaths.
Even after the judgment, Simpson remained steadfast in his determination to avoid paying another cent to his civil debtors, namely Fred Goldman, because he claimed he was innocent of all criminal charges.
Prior to the book, Goldman said that he’s received less than $10,000 toward the judgment. Other reports indicated otherwise.
Simpson’s attorney Ronald Slates, spoke in defense of Simpson on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” saying that, “We have a system here. The system was followed. He has a right to collect. We have a right to protect.”
According to the Goldman family, they’ve spent countless dollars in attorney fees, attempting to track Simpson’s cash, but without success. Plus, all of the “slinking around” in the underground sports memorabilia business by Simpson, has inspired a sense of martyrdom for the Goldman family.
According to Bill Huggins, a Maryland sports memorabilia dealer interviewed by CNN correspondent Joe Johns, “’there are three markets in this business; sales of the ordinary legit stuff, pieces of some of the legends of sport that you see in the showcases. And, like fine wine, there’s good stuff in the vault. This rare baseball card could be worth $10,000 in the next auction.’”
“’And then there’s the underworld, with its fake signatures, jerseys and such, things sold by people the Justice Department likes to drag before a judge,’” said Huggins.
“’But then, as Huggins sees it, there’s OJ’s world, a world unto itself where a fallen hero, unable to escape from his ruined reputation, slinks around in the shadows, seemingly cashing in on the fast buck of his former fame. Huggins remembers OJ two-years ago in Chicago at the biggest sports memorabilia show in the country. Huggins was there, and he says, so was OJ,’” Johns told Cooper.
Simpson wrote the book “If I Did It,” incensing the Goldmans, the Browns and many other Americans. According to Simpson, his manuscript is based in truth, except for the double murder chapter.
Simpson’s audacity to write the confessional book proved to be a self- destructive mistake on many levels, beginning with the Goldman family’s legal mandate to go after its rights.
Following Goldman’s legal victory in attaining the book, it’s possible that Simpson may have snapped, just a little. His only salvation being that he kept the $630,000 advance from the original publisher.
While Goldman fought for that cash in court, Simpson claimed he no longer had it, after signing it over to his daughter Sydney’s bankrupted business.
By coincidence, Simpson travels to Las Vegas to be best man at his friend Tony Scotto’s wedding, within days of release of the renamed book, “If I Did It,” Confessions of the Killer” on September 14, the same day Simpson is named suspect in the armed robbery.
To promote the book, Fred and Kim Goldman had a pre-scheduled interview with Fox News Host Greta Van Susteren, formerly of CNN.
During the interview, Van Susteren asked Mr. Goldman why his family fought for the disparaged book. He answered pointedly by saying, “If we walk away, it’s as – for me, it’s as good as saying it’s OK, and it’s not OK. And the only way we have to punish him is to take financial things from him and make him suffer in that sense.”
Which still leaves the current question on people’s mind as to why he did it?
With Goldman attorneys breathing down his neck, the Juice knew to watch his back, like the old days when he was a quick and sly Heisman trophy winning running back.
What’s important to note in the case, is that some very intriguing information came out of the mess that may finally give Goldman the lead he’s been looking for, in Bruce Fromong.
Fromong is the victim who angrily blurted out that “I helped that (expletive) set-up his off-shore accounts” after the armed robbery, which was also audio taped by Riccio and sold to entertainment site TMZ for cash.
According to Goldman attorney David Cook regarding memorabilia sales and autograph signings, “These are cash transactions. And, for that flash of a moment, if the funds you’re receiving from individuals, that is, retail customers, then we would need to send physically the sheriff there to intercept that money when it gets there.”
Now it looks like there are many sheriffs and possibly federal authorities in town, who may be interested in Simpson’s memorabilia dealings.
Based on the police reported statement by Fromong, it appears that Beardsley brought Fromong in on the deal for Riccio, leaving many to wonder whether he is playing for both teams, not including his own, which stands to gain from Simpson’s notoriety in the press.
After charges were filed, Goldman family attorneys jumped at the opportunity to gain custody of the memorabilia, pending ownership, by filing a motion in Los Angeles Superior Court. But none of this can be settled until ownership is determined and the criminal case is closed.
As for the odds that Simpson will stand trial and be convicted, “The tremendous advantage the government has is that he’s one of the most despised people (O.J.) in America, for good reason, as I see it, and you know, 80-percent of the people think he killed his ex-wife and Ron Goldman. But if that coloring was not in this case, boy, it’s hard to think it would have been brought,” said Toobin, author of “The Run of His Life; The People v. O.J. Simpson.”
As to why, we the public, are so fascinated by Simpson and his criminal leanings, Toobin says “With the original Simpson case, you had a combination of everything that obsesses the American people. You had sex. You had race. You had violence. You had Hollywood. You had sports. And the only eye-witness was a dog. So, I mean, it was an absolute perfect combination.”
This case is just an extension of the double murder trial because Simpson has continued to cater his misdeeds to hungry media who feed the even hungrier American public.
At this point, nobody knows how things will play out in court, for O.J. and his five cronies. It’s up to the ambitious Clark County DA David Roger, to do what LA prosecutors could not, by getting a conviction against famed football player Orenthal James Simpson.