Suspects in Simpson incident still jailed

O.J.'s out, but not everyone arrested in his robbery case is going home.

Two of O.J. Simpson's co-defendants appeared before Judge Joe Bonaventure in Justice Court on Thursday morning, 24 hours after the football Hall of Famer appeared before the same judge and secured his freedom on $125,000 bail.

Bonaventure set the price of 49-year-old Michael McClinton's release at the substantially lower level of $32,000, but it was still too high for McClinton to make, said his attorney, Bill Terry.

Prosecutor Danielle Pieper had requested standard bail amounts for the 10 charges McClinton is facing, which add up to $78,000.

Terry had asked for bail to be set at $25,000. He noted his client's lack of criminal history and also emphasized that McClinton, who turned himself in on Tuesday, had his bail hearing pushed back a day because of Simpson's high-profile appearance Wednesday.

"My concern here is the weapons," Bonaventure told Terry.

Handguns that matched the description of the weapons used in the robbery were found at McClinton's Las Vegas home, according to Simpson's arrest report. In addition to the .22-caliber Beretta and .45-caliber Ruger, an assault rifle was seized from the house, according to the report.

Police also impounded as evidence McClinton's permit to carry a concealed weapon, according to the police report.

McClinton appeared in court with one of his co-defendants, 40-year-old Charles Cashmore, who was arrested Wednesday and remained jailed Thursday night with charges pending. Authorities allege the two men were among the group that accompanied Simpson, 60, into a Palace Station hotel room Sept. 13 and took sports memorabilia at gunpoint from two collectors, Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

The charges against McClinton include robbery, assault, burglary and kidnapping with a deadly weapon. Terry accused District Attorney David Roger of overcharging McClinton.

"The kidnapping allegation, particularly, is fairly thin," he said, adding later that "everything happened in one room."

The definition of kidnapping under Nevada law includes holding someone against his or her will for the purpose of robbery.

Terry told Bonaventure his defense could include that McClinton was "working under one set of facts in good faith, and those set of facts turned out to be not accurate."

Terry requested that McClinton's preliminary hearing take place in 15 days; it was then scheduled for Oct. 4.

Terry refused to comment after the hearing.

Should he make bail, McClinton would have to turn over his permit to carry a concealed weapon and his passport to Terry. The judge also initially prohibited McClinton from seeing other co-defendants or witnesses in the case.

Terry said there could be a joint defense agreement in this case that might require meetings with other defendants and their counsel.

"I don't think our hands should be locked," he said.

Bonaventure then modified the prohibition, agreeing that if McClinton be released, he could be in the same room as other defendants and their attorneys for a defense meeting only.

A joint defense agreement would allow the lawyers for the various co-defendants to pool knowledge and resources. The agreement also would prevent participating defendants from testifying against one another and would bar their lawyers from presenting potentially damaging witnesses or evidence to other co-defendants at trial.

The case against the co-defendant who was in same courtroom as McClinton on Thursday morning is not as far along in the process. Cashmore was there for the hearing that defendants are entitled to within 48 hours of being booked into jail.

Cashmore's lawyer, Edward Miley, asked Bonaventure to set bail for Cashmore, but Bonaventure denied his request and scheduled a hearing for today to hear the charges and arguments for bail.

Prosecutors had yet to charge Cashmore with any crime. Pieper, the prosecutor, said the charges will be filed by the deadline.

Miley said he'll ask for Cashmore to be released on his own recognizance. "He feels like a victim in all this," he said.

Outside the courtroom, Miley said Cashmore turned over a box of evidence to police Thursday, but did not state what was in the box.

He said Cashmore, who has a minimal criminal history involving misdemeanors, has lived in Las Vegas off and on for the past 15 years and works for the labor union. He has worked as a disc jockey and a cook, Miley said.

"A friend of a friend," contacted Miley to represent Cashmore, Miley said.

Other co-defendants, Walter Alexander, 46, of Mesa, Ariz., and Clarence Stewart, 54, of Las Vegas were arrested earlier and have been released pending court appearances next month.

Police said they were still seeking one other man, whose name has not been made public. He is seen in video surveillance from Palace Station carrying a box alongside Cashmore.

There was a third Las Vegas courtroom appearance Thursday connected to the Simpson case, but the defendant is one of the people alleged to have been a victim of the robbery -- Beardsley. He waived his right to fight extradition to California.

He was arrested Wednesday at a Las Vegas Strip hotel. The California prison system had issued a warrant for Beardsley's arrest on Saturday because the 46-year-old resident of Burbank had violated parole by leaving the state without permission, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Beardsley had been convicted of stalking and began serving a two-year sentence on April 26, 2005. He was scheduled to be discharged from parole on March 15, 2009.

Review-Journal staff writer David Kihara contributed to this report.