O.J. Simpson's Accomplice, Charles Howard Cashmore Testifies Against Him


Charles Howard Cashmore an accomplice of O.J. Simpson in a raid on a hotel suite, will plead guilty to a reduced charge in exchange for testimony against the disgraced football legend and four other defendants.

He is expected to testify that two of his co-accused, Walter Alexander and Michael McClinton, were armed when they entered a Las Vegas hotel room with Simpson and confronted two sports memorabilia dealers, his lawyer Edward Miley said Friday.

"The only people with guns that he knew of were Alexander and McClinton," Miley said.

Robert Dennis Rentzer, Alexander's lawyer, declined to comment on the presence of a weapon during the Sept. 13 incident.

"I owe the district attorney an answer to that question before the press," he said.

Cashmore, who surrendered to police six days later, will plead guilty to being an accessory to robbery, Miley said. The reduced felony charge comes with a maximum five-year jail term.

"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Miley said of Cashmore, a Las Vegas-area laborer, bartender and disc jockey.

Miley says Cashmore was unarmed during the alleged robbery and only met Simpson minutes before the men barged into the Palace Station Casino hotel room.

"O.J. says, 'Hey I've got to move some stuff, can you help?'" Miley said.

Simpson, 60, is charged with 11 criminal offences and could face life in prison if convicted.

According to police reports, Simpson and the other men entered the hotel room at gunpoint and ordered two collectors, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, to hand over several items that Simpson claimed belonged to him.

Simpson maintains he was only trying to reclaim the sports memorabilia and that no weapons were used during the incident.

The collectibles taken from the room included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider and framed awards and plaques. The items have a collective valued of up to US$100,000.

The charges Simpson and at least three other men face include:

* Two counts of first-degree kidnapping
* Two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon
* Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon
* Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon
* Conspiracy to commit kidnapping
* Conspiracy to commit robbery
* Conspiracy to commit a crime.

Simpson also faces a felony charge of coercion, alleging that he took a cellphone from Fromong. He is currently free on US$125,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court later this month.

Cashmore is scheduled to make a court appearance on Monday.

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