Trial date affirmed in Simpson case

CARSON CITY -- A request from O.J. Simpson's last remaining co-defendant to delay the Sept. 8 start of the pair's armed robbery and kidnapping trial was rejected Thursday by a divided Nevada Supreme Court panel.

The high court's 2-1 order went against Clarence "C.J." Stewart, with Justices Bill Maupin and Ron Parraguirre refusing to stay the upcoming trial, which is expected to take at least five weeks, and also refusing to consider Stewart's petition for a separate trial.

Justice Michael Cherry dissented, saying he would have granted the stay and called for an answer from prosecutors to the petition for separate trials.

The brief majority order said justices "are not satisfied that this court's intervention by way of extraordinary writ is warranted at this time."

Stewart's attorney, Robert Lucherini, appealed to the Supreme Court after District Judge Jackie Glass refused to halt proceedings.

The lower court judge had delayed the start of the trial once in April, and had vowed not to postpone it again.

Lucherini argued it will be impossible for Stewart to get a fair trial sitting next to Simpson, an NFL Hall of Fame player, actor and advertising pitchman who was acquitted in 1995 in Los Angeles of criminal charges that he murdered his ex-wife and her friend.

Simpson and Stewart are the two remaining defendants in the case that stems from a Sept. 13 confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers at a Palace Station hotel room.

Each man faces 12 charges, including felony kidnapping, armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Four former co-defendants who accompanied Simpson and Stewart accepted plea deals and agreed to testify against Simpson about the ill-fated meeting with the two collectibles dealers, Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley, and Tom Riccio, another dealer who arranged the meeting.