In O.J. Simpson trial, accusers are attacked
Using a tactic that has been successful in the past, Simpson's attorneys question the victims' motives.
LAS VEGAS — Bruce Fromong's nose reddened and his eyes welled with tears. He was testifying in a courtroom here about his tarnished relationship with "best friend" O.J. Simpson -- who is accused of robbing Fromong at gunpoint.
Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer, said the football great didn't scare him during their encounter in a hotel room last year -- in fact, minutes after it ended, he was looking to cash in.
"I'll have 'Inside Edition' down here for us tomorrow," Fromong told a business partner, according to a recording played for jurors. "I told them I want big money."
Last week, Simpson's attorneys employed a strategy common in celebrity trials: Attack the accusers' motives and character. The tactic was partly responsible for the acquittals of singer Michael Jackson and actor Robert Blake in their high-profile criminal prosecutions in recent years, lawyers said.
Simpson's defense, however, doesn't need much help: The victims come off as alternately smitten with the former NFL star and willing to make a buck off his fame.
Simpson's other accuser, Alfred Beardsley -- who has yet to take the stand -- was characterized in court testimony as "delusional," "criminally insane" and an "O.J. disciple" who, if given the chance, would buy Simpson's underwear.
"Do you want to be a witness in this case?" Dist. Atty. David Roger asked Beardsley during one pretrial hearing.
"Not really," said Beardsley, glancing at the defense table.
Simpson, 61, faces a dozen charges; the most serious -- kidnapping -- carries a potential life sentence. Prosecutors say he rounded up five associates -- two of them armed -- to confront Fromong and Beardsley. The dealers said they were expecting to meet a wealthy buyer at Palace Station Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Simpson maintains that he was merely trying to retrieve stolen mementos, including pictures of his late parents, on Sept. 13, 2007. He contends that he never saw a gun.
Simpson, of course, has his own image problems. He was acquitted in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman in the televised "trial of the century." In 1997, a civil jury found the NFL Hall of Famer liable for the deaths, but he has paid little of the $33.5-million judgment.
