OJ feels targeted

2008-06-28 19:49

Las Vegas - OJ Simpson says an ambitious Nevada prosecutor is pressing a kidnapping and armed robbery case against him that he says even the alleged victims do not want to pursue.

"If I was anybody else, I wouldn't be going to court," Simpson told a reporter for Fargo, North Dakota, radio station KFGO who interviewed him late on Tuesday at a Fargo cigar bar near where Simpson was vacationing in North Dakota and in northwest Minnesota.

"How many trials have you ever heard of where both of the victims say they don't want this guy to go to jail, they don't want to go to court, and you still go to court?" Simpson asked. "It's only me.

"But unfortunately for me," Simpson said, "I got like a bull's eye on my front, dollar sign on my back, you get involved with people who want to be governor and stuff."

'Just frustrated'

Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in a highly-publicized criminal trial in 1995.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger declined comment.

Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said on Thursday that Simpson was venting his frustration about facing trial on September 8 in Las Vegas on charges carrying the possibility of prison time.

"I think OJ's comments show how totally frustrated he is over this incident that involves family heirlooms that were stolen from him by some very nefarious characters," Galanter said.

Galanter also downplayed Simpson's comments about the prosecutor, saying that he had the "utmost respect" for Roger and another prosecutor in the case, Chris Owens.

"I have no reason to believe their motives in this case have been anything less than ethical and honourable," Galanter said.

Simpson and two co-defendants, Ehrlich and Clarence "CJ" Stewart, have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon charges stemming from allegations they robbed two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room last September. Simpson has denied any guns were involved.

A kidnapping conviction carries the possibility of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction would mean mandatory prison time.

- AP