Former American football star turned actor OJ Simpson was last night charged with seven serious offences including conspiracy and kidnapping following an alleged armed robbery in Las Vegas.
The 60-year-old, who was acquitted in 1995 after a sensational double murder trial, and three co-defendants faced a total of 11 charges. Simpson could go to prison for decades if convicted.
The charges followed an alleged armed confrontation last Thursday between the defendants and sports memorabilia dealers in a room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Simpson was arrested on Sunday and has been held without bail pending his first court appearance today.
The case has sparked a media frenzy reminiscent of Simpson's "trial of the century" in 1995 when he was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman the previous year.
A court spokesman said he would probably be taken from the jail to the courthouse through a tunnel for the hearing and special arrangements were being made to accommodate dozens of journalists seeking to attend.
Police have not accused Simpson of brandishing a firearm in the confrontation but he could still be convicted of participating in an armed robbery if one or more of the men said to have been with him was threatening dealers with a gun.
Simpson has told reporters he did nothing wrong and was merely trying to retrieve his own collectibles, personal photos, his Hall of Fame certificate and other items he said had been stolen by a former sports agent.
In 1995 Simpson was cleared of the murder of his wife and Mr Goldman in a criminal court, but he was later found liable for the deaths at a civil trial.
He was ordered to pay £17m in damages. The money has never been paid.
Last July, the rights to Simpson's book - If I Did It: Confession of the Killer - were awarded to Mr Goldman's family to help recoup some of the damages.
In the book, published last Thursday by Beaufort Books, Simpson describes hypothetically how he could have killed his former wife and Mr Goldman.
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