Another lines up to testify

The Las Vegas man who authorities allege waved a gun around inside a Palace Station hotel room during O.J. Simpson's grab of sports memorabilia is now set to testify against the former football superstar.

Michael McClinton, 49, agreed in Justice Court on Monday to give up his right to a preliminary hearing. On Nov. 8, McClinton would have stood beside Simpson and two other co-defendants, Charles Ehrlich and Clarence Stewart, each charged with 12 counts in connection with the Sept. 13 incident.

Now, McClinton is to testify at that hearing about Simpson's taking of thousands of dollars in sports memorabilia from collectors Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, some of which Simpson has said belonged to him.

McClinton's lawyer, Bill Terry, declined to elaborate on what McClinton will say, but Terry did not dispute the allegation that Simpson asked McClinton to bring two guns to the hotel room.

According to a Las Vegas police report, McClinton provided the guns and brandished one of them, a semiautomatic handgun, inside the hotel room.

McClinton joins two other former co-defendants of Simpson's in lining up to testify against the Heisman Trophy winner. Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore have pleaded guilty to low-level felonies in exchange for their agreement to testify against Simpson. All three can identify two guns used in the incident, authorities have said.

"These guys (Alexander and McClinton) can talk about what O.J. said before the event and after," said Cashmore's attorney, Edward Miley.

Cashmore will be able to testify about what happened inside the room, having only met Simpson 30 minutes before the incident, Miley said. Cashmore has identified Alexander and McClinton as both carrying weapons inside the room but said Alexander kept his holstered on his hip.

Their testimony will be significant because Simpson has denied any guns were used.

"There were no guns," Gabriel Grasso, Simpson's local attorney, said again on Monday.

McClinton, Alexander and Cashmore's recollection of weapons used in the incident is incorrect, he said.

"Isn't it easier to say there are guns, when you don't have to plead guilty to a gun? You can't get it any easier than that," Grasso said.

On Nov. 13, McClinton is scheduled to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery, charges for which a judge can send him to prison for up to 11 years. Terry said he will ask the judge for probation for McClinton.

District Attorney David Roger said he has agreed to not argue for a particular sentence, but if the judge is inclined to give McClinton prison time, Roger said he will ask for the sentences to run concurrently.

Grasso questioned why Roger allowed McClinton to plead guilty to robbery without a weapons enhancement, which can add significant prison time to the penalty.

"Basically he (McClinton) is going to be given carte blanche at sentencing to argue for probation, but he's going to come into court, from what I understand, and testify there was a gun," Grasso said.

Prosecutors have offered Simpson no potential deal yet, he said, adding Simpson's legal team is open to negotiating.

"It's another witness," Grasso said of McClinton's plea bargain. "I wouldn't say it's worrisome. It's just another issue we're going to have to deal with."

But University of Nevada, Las Vegas law school Professor Jeffrey Stempel said Simpson has much to worry about with this third plea deal.

"O.J. is in trouble if his co-defendants are rolling over like this," Stempel said.

The more co-defendants the prosecution can turn, the more difficult it will be for the Simpson defense team to discredit their testimony, Stempel said.

Though McClinton had a gun, it appears Roger is going to cut him some slack to try to ensure a conviction of Simpson, who prosecutors probably see as the principal wrongdoer or ringleader in the case, Stempel said.

Stempel recalled Simpson's 1995 murder acquittal of his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and friend Ron Goldman and the subsequent civil verdict, which found Simpson liable, in the amount of $33.5 million, for their deaths.

If Simpson is convicted, Stempel said, "a sizable percentage of the American public" probably will see a prison sentence as his "just deserts" for the homicides.

The judge can consider Nicole Simpson and Goldman's deaths and the substantial amount of evidence pointing toward Simpson as the culprit in doling out Simpson's sentence too, though he was acquitted in the criminal case, Stempel said.

"Your whole past becomes an open book," for the judge to consider, he said.

"He (Simpson) has got a sullied past," Stempel said.

As a result of his plea deal, McClinton agreed to forfeit his firearms and his permit to carry a concealed handgun.

When police searched McClinton's home, they confiscated the permit, two handguns, a .22-caliber Beretta and a .45-caliber Ruger, and an assault rifle.

Contact reporter K.C. Howard at khoward@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-1039.