Twist in OJ Simpson case

2008-09-26 12:03

Las Vegas - A victim of an alleged armed robbery led by OJ Simpson testified that he did not want to press charges, in a dramatic twist to the sports star's trial here on Thursday.

Alfred Beardsley, one of the two sports memorabilia traders confronted by Simpson, 61, and a gang of gun-toting cohorts in a Las Vegas hotel room last year, told the court that he had not wanted to testify in the case.

"I do not want to be here, I've made that clear for the past year," Beardsley said. "I have been going round and round the past year trying to get my name off of that complaint."

Beardsley also questioned the authenticity of a secret recording of the alleged heist made by a purported friend of Simpson, Thomas Riccio, who had helped set up the meeting at the Palace Station Hotel casino in September 2007.

Riccio has admitted being paid more than $200 000 by media outlets for the tape, which is a key part of the prosecution evidence against Simpson, who faces a dozen armed robbery and kidnapping charges.

However Beardsley, who is currently serving a prison term for domestic violence, suggested Riccio had edited the tape.

"I'm not authenticating it, considering the source. I can't authenticate it," Beardsley testified, adding that the tape was a "work of art" doctored by Riccio because chunks of dialogue were missing.

Prosecutor David Roger tried to ask Beardsley whether he was attempting to thwart prosecutors because he didn't want to be branded an informer by fellow inmates who were watching the trial on television.

The judge blocked that line of questioning however.

Beardsley did not dispute that Simpson and five men burst into his hotel room in what he believed was going to be a meeting with a wealthy buyer.

He also confirmed two of Simpson's accomplices were armed. Simpson has denied knowing that members of his group took guns to the confrontation.

Simpson, famously acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend in Los Angeles in 1995, could be jailed for life if convicted on a dozen robbery and kidnapping charges.

Simpson is on trial with Clarence Stewart, who was part of the alleged raid. Four other involved men have pleaded guilty to lesser charges with the agreement to testify.

- AFP