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Updated Sept. 18, 2007, 3:31 p.m. ET
Goldmans have eye on memorabilia O.J. Simpson allegedly tried to take back

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Tuesday gave Fred Goldman a week to come up with a list of sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson is accused of stealing from a Las Vegas hotel room, but he refused to order Simpson to hand over his earnings from everything from autograph signings to videogames.

Simpson was found liable in a wrongful death trial 11 years ago for the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Goldman's son, Ron.

The civil jury returned a $33.5 million judgment against Simpson, but it remains largely unpaid. The Goldman family has waged a campaign to claim Simpson's assets since then.

Simpson, who was acquitted of the murders in a criminal trial, was arrested Sunday after a sports memorabilia collector reported a group of armed men had charged into his Las Vegas hotel room and taken several items Simpson claimed belonged to him.

He was being held without bail Tuesday in Clark County Detention Center on six felonies, including two counts of robbery with use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison on each robbery count.

One of them men arrested with Simpson, Walter Alexander, said Tuesday that Simpson may have been tricked because another memorabilia dealer who tipped him off also recorded everything on tape.

"It sounds like a setup to me," Alexander told ABC's "Good Morning America." He said Simpson had thought the memorabilia belonged to him after getting a call from the dealer.

One of the collectors in the room at the time, Bruce Fromong, spoke publicly about the incident on Monday and described Simpson and a group of men coming into the hotel room "commando style." Later Monday, Fromong was hospitalized with chest pains, officials said Tuesday. His condition was not released.

Fromong and authorities have said that they don't believe Simpson had a gun but that some of the men with him did.

The Heisman Trophy winner has been in and out of the spotlight since he was acquitted of murder in the 1994 deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

David Cook, an attorney for Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, said he believed Nevada authorities would turn over the items seized in the hotel room dispute after Simpson's criminal case finishes. The items include Simpson's Hall of Fame certificate, a gold Rolex watch and the suit Simpson wore on the day he was acquitted, Cook said.

"He's going to walk out of Clark County empty-handed," Cook said.

In court in Santa Monica on Tuesday, Goldman attorney Cook accused Simpson of "sitting on a treasure trove of sports memorability" while ignoring the multimillion-dollar judgment. But both Cook and Simpson lawyer Ronald Slates said they had no idea what the items were, and Slates argued it was unclear whether Simpson really owned any of them.

Cook also filed a new request to get Simpson's watch, which he described as a Rolex Submariner that he saw the former football star wearing in a photo featured on the celebrity Web site TMZ.com. Such watches sell for $5,000 or more, he said.

He also argued that Simpson was wealthy, citing a 2003 tax form indicating income of $400,000.

Slates noted Simpson has expenses for his three children.

"He has a right, like everybody else, to be protected (under the law)," Slates said.

Slates also said Simpson has repeatedly offered to settle the judgment with the Goldman family. Cook replied it would be "a cold day in hell" when that would happen.

"It is inconceivable that the father of a murder victim would sit and haggle," Cook said.

Another man suspected in the alleged heist surrendered Monday. Clarence Stewart, 53, of Las Vegas, lived at one of the residences that police searched early Sunday to recover some of the memorabilia. Stewart turned over some of the missing goods, including autographed footballs, police said.

A fourth man, Tom Scotto, was questioned and cleared of suspicion after police concluded he was not in the room, reducing the number of outstanding suspects to two, police said.

Alexander, who faces charges almost identical to Simpson's, said he went to Las Vegas for a wedding and not to see Simpson. "I just happened to get caught up in a bad situation," he told ABC.

Simpson's arraignment was set for Wednesday. Yale Galanter, another Simpson lawyer, said he would ask for Simpson's release on his own recognizance.

"If it was anyone other than O.J. Simpson, he would have been released by now," he said.

"You can't rob something that is yours," Galanter said. "O.J. said, 'You've got stolen property. Either you return it or I call the police.'"

The Goldmans hope the property never finds its way back to Simpson.

In 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Ron Goldman's estate and a total of $25 million in punitive damages, divided equally between both estates. Despite extensive court hearings, however, most of the judgment has remained unpaid.

In 1999, seized personal property was auctioned off, raising only $430,000, more than half of it from the sale of Simpson's Heisman Trophy. The house itself did not generate anything toward paying the judgment. A bank foreclosed on the home, put it up for auction and bought it back.

Tuesday's hearing was originally scheduled in connection with any money the Goldmans say Simpson earned from a video game featuring his likeness.



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