|
April 4, 2008
Posted: 02:27 PM ET
NEW YORK – The recent arrest of Alfred Beardsley may make it harder to convict O.J. Simpson at his armed robbery trial in Las Vegas this fall, even though it has nothing to do with Simpson’s guilt or innocence. 
Cat-boiling is among Alfred Beardsley’s alleged threats.
 Beardsley is an alleged victim in the Las Vegas caper. Another witness in the case, Thomas Riccio, filed a complaint against Beardsley this week in Los Angeles. Read more For those who need a scorecard: Riccio is the memorabilia dealer who arranged for Simpson to meet Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, another memorabilia dealer, at the Las Vegas hotel room, Riccio is now accusing Beardsley of threatening to hurt his family and “boil the family cat.” Beardsley denies making any such threats. He says Riccio is trying to draw attention to himself and the armed robbery case because Riccio’s book, Busted: The Inside Story of the World of Sports Memorabilia, O.J. Simpson, and the Vegas Arrests, is about to hit store shelves. The book starts and ends with Riccio’s explanation of Simpson’s Las Vegas deal gone bad. In late February, Beardsley filed a civil suit against Riccio in Orange County, California claiming fraud, invasion of privacy, aiding and abetting assault and battery, and infliction of emotional distress. The action stems from the Las Vegas armed robbery. Riccio’s lawyer, Stanley Lieber, recently announced that Riccio plans to countersue for fraud in a 2004 encounter with Beardsley which, coincidentally, also involved O.J. Simpson and an autograph-signing event in Los Angeles. The sparring between two of the state’s key witnesses in Simpson’s armed robbery case is likely to come out at trial. Jurors assess the credibility of witnesses in a number of ways including their demeanor, ability to recall, opportunity to observe, motive, bias, and criminal history, if any. In this case, both Beardsley and Riccio have a criminal past. Riccio has spent time in federal prison for dealing in stolen property, escape and arson. Beardsley was imprisoned in California for a stalking conviction and is currently on parole for that crime. None of this has any direct relationship to what unfolded in the Palace Station Hotel room when two men allegedly brandished guns at Simpson’s request. But it’s no help to the state’s case that the defense has all this mud to sling around the courtroom about two critical witnesses for the state. – Beth Karas, In Session correspondent Filed under: Beth Karas • O.J. Simpson |
 
About this blog
 Contributors
       Related Links
Categories
 |
|
CNN Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. Please note that CNN makes reasonable efforts to review all comments prior to posting and CNN may edit comments for clarity or to keep out questionable or off-topic material. All comments should be relevant to the post and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying information via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNN Privacy Statement.
|
|
del.icio.us
Add a comment
