Co-defendant in O.J. case is so unlucky black cats won’t cross his path

No matter his role in the infamous O.J. Simpson memorabilia robbery case, I'm certain co-defendant Clarence "C.J." Stewart isn't the biggest criminal in Southern Nevada.

But I'm absolutely positive he's the unluckiest.

This guy isn't a mastermind. He's a punch line.

"I've got some bad news and some worse news, Mr. Stewart. Which would you like first?"

"The bad news, I guess."

"The bad news is, you've been charged with enough felonies that, if convicted, you could spend the rest of the decade and then some in prison."

"And the worse news?"

Your co-defendant is O.J. Simpson. Have a nice day."

Stewart was a member of Simpson's five-stooges posse that confronted two sports memorabilia dealers on Sept. 13, 2007, in a Palace Station hotel room. The exchange resulted in armed robbery and kidnapping charges being leveled against Simpson and his gofers. Most have wisely cut deals with District Attorney David Roger in exchange for a sentencing break and agreeing to testify at trial.

Most, but not all. Not Clarence Stewart, who has stated he never saw any guns drawn by the defendants on the day in question.

Trouble for Stewart and Simpson is, the others have already pleaded guilty and are willing to share similar stories. One of those defendants is Michael McClinton, who although a flawed witness has admitted Simpson told him to bring a gun. McClinton and defendant-turned-government witness Walter Alexander were armed, they say.

Even holdout defendant Charles Ehrlich took a deal in the days leading up to the Sept. 8 trial in District Judge Jackie Glass' courtroom. By pleading to lesser charges, Ehrlich avoided the possibility of a life sentence. Which proves he's no dummy.

No such deal has been forthcoming for Stewart, who must have been waiting by the phone hoping for a call. Now it appears Roger doesn't much need Stewart to help make the case.

Did I say Stewart was unlucky?

He's so unlucky black cats won't cross his path.

He's so unlucky that he chose to run in the company of a group of men who must buy tape recorders by the gross. At least three damaging recordings have surfaced. The longest is by memento hustler Thomas Riccio, who planted a device in the hotel room where all the alleged criminal activity took place. Stewart's voice is captured on that tape as he allegedly menaces memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley. I'd quote from the transcript, but Stewart doesn't utter many epithet-free sentences.

There's also a tape-recording from poolside at the Palms that purports to capture Stewart mentioning the word "gun" in Simpson's company. It's a sentence that's bound to generate contention in the courtroom.

Meanwhile, harried defense attorney Robert Lucherini has pleaded unsuccessfully for a continuance. He's also appealed to the state Supreme Court to sever Stewart's case from Simpson's case due to the Juice's notoriety after his 1995 acquittal in the 1994 murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. A civil jury later determined Simpson was liable for $33 million in damages in the two deaths.

Most people would be more comfortable on trial with Freddy Krueger than O.J. Simpson.

So severance is a cinch, right?

Not exactly.

The prosecution and judge are going to great lengths to ensure an unbiased jury is seated. Jurors are being asked to answer more than 100 questions, and, out of an abundance of caution, Judge Glass has been extremely generous in allowing jurors to exit the proceedings if they express strong feelings about Simpson.

Stewart's attorney can make a strong argument for severance, but even in the unlikely event it's granted, his case doesn't improve much.

His luck's not running his way there, either.

Even if Stewart somehow persuades a jury he didn't know about any guns -- no Strip bookmaker to take odds on that possibility -- he's still in the middle of what looks like group intimidation and robbery.

And his threatening, salty patter won't win him any allies. It's just a guess, but I'll speculate that Simpson's own B-movie tough guy language as captured on tape will make Stewart look like even more of a lackey for the man who made the names Brentwood and Bruno Magli infamous.

And lackeys rarely get lucky this late in the game.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.