They're baaaaack.
O.J. Simpson, the media throng and maybe even a guy in a chicken suit return today to the Regional Justice Center, where prosecutors for the first time will lay out their case against the former star running back and two others.
Simpson, Charles Erlich and Clarence Stewart each face 12 charges, including robbery with a deadly weapon, kidnapping and conspiracy, in the Sept. 13 holdup of two sports memorabilia dealers at Palace Station. The three other co-defendants, Michael McClinton, Walter Alexander and Charles Cashmore, have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for their testimony.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last through at least Friday, as is the crush of national media attention that comes with such a high-profile case. Bulky white satellite trucks from every major media outlet started rolling into the courthouse parking lot Tuesday, and more than 170 media credentials were issued to outlets large and small, including ESPN, People magazine, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ.com.
Here's more:
A memorabilia dealer accusing O.J. Simpson of robbing him testified Thursday that the former football star burst into a hotel room with a handful of other men, including one wielding a gun, and carried off hundreds of collector's items.
Bruce Fromong, one of two dealers allegedly robbed, said he had expected to meet with an anonymous buyer on Sept. 13, when Simpson arrived with others "in a military invasion fashion" and shouted that the items belonged to him.
"O.J. was screaming, 'This is all my s---. This all belongs to me. You stole this from me. Let's pack up. Let's get out of here,'" Fromong said.
Simpson, 60, and two co-defendants are charged with robbery, kidnapping and other offenses. Thursday's hearing was to determine whether there is enough evidence to take them to trial.
