O.J. Simpson
Michael Yarish/FOX
The decision to send the case to trial follows four days of testimony in which prosecutors brought forth eight witnesses, most of whom fingered Simpson, 60, as the leader of the group who went into a hotel room on Sept. 13 in search of the memorabilia.
One man testified Simpson wanted them to bring "heat" to the Palace Station room, a reference to guns, while another one testified Simpson told him to "show them your weapon and look menacing." Both of the men, Walter Alexander and Michael McClinton, respectively, have accepted plea deals to testify against Simpson.
Defense attorneys spent much of the preliminary hearing arguing the property was stolen from Simpson, while discrediting witnesses and questioning their motives – one witness recorded the incident and sold it to a Web site and another was on a national news program the evening before testifying. Defense attorney's also questioned Alexander's past, calling him "a pimp".
Simpson and two other men will be tried on 12 counts, including aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
A trial date has not been set, but it's expected that a trial will begin in the summer of 2008.
