Squeezing the Juice

Las Vegas authorities have charged OJ Simpson with 11 counts, which could bring a life sentence in prison if convicted of the charges.

I'm sure everyone has seen or heard the video of the alleged incident whereby OJ and his cronies entered a hotel room and began making demands of the occupants to give items to OJ and his cohorts. It sure sounds like a shakedown. Those people were being held against their will, and were definitely being threatened.

If you didn't know better, you'd think that it was OJ Simpson's attempt to land a role in Pulp Fiction.

The Clark County DA has now charged Simpson and three co-defendants with a total of 11 criminal counts that include conspiracy, kidnapping, robbery, kidnapping with use of a deadly weapon, robbery with use of a deadly weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, and coercion with use of a deadly weapon.

Simpson is set to be arraigned today for his role in Thursday's alleged armed robbery of two sports-memorabilia collectors who had items The Juice claimed were his.

Cops reeled in the last of Simpson's co-defendants - Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas - yesterday, shortly after they released his photo.

Co-defendants Walter Alexander and Clarence Stewart have already been arrested. Alexander was released without bond, while Stewart posted $78,000 bail.

Stewart's lawyer, Rob Lucherini, said of his client, "He didn't have a gun, he didn't know there was a gun."

It's also being suggested that one of the other defendants is ready to cut a deal, which means that OJ's legal troubles are about to get a whole lot worse. If others turn on OJ, it will not bode well.

TMZ is reporting that OJ and his crew may have impersonated cops. Nice. It wasn't included in the list of charges, but if the evidence warrants additional charges, I'm sure that the Las Vegas prosecutors will add it to the mix.

The actual complaint can be found here. He will be arraigned today. Expect a circus environment.

UPDATE:
The judge has ruled that OJ can be released on $125,000 bail and ordered that Simpson to surrender his passport. Will that be sufficient for him to remain within the reach of the Las Vegas authorities? Time will tell. It wouldn't be a good idea for OJ to retrace the White Bronco chase, that's for sure. Still, I'm sure that the media would love to see that happen. For the media, that would be a ratings goldmine. In fact, I think bloggers wouldn't mind some kind of craziness to happen with OJ either.