LAS VEGAS — A prosecutor told jurors Thursday that O.J. Simpson recruited a pack of burly men to pull off an armed robbery in a Las Vegas hotel room, but the defense called him a victim of witnesses with ulterior motives and police who were out to get him.
Jurors were hearing closing arguments in the case against Simpson and a co-defendant, who are accused of robbing and kidnapping two sports memorabilia dealers who had items Simpson claims were his.
None of the five men initially charged with Simpson cared about the memorabilia, Clark County District Attorney David Roger said in his closing argument.
“But there was one person, and that was defendant Simpson,” Roger said, raising his voice. “He is the person who put these crimes together. He is the one who recruited these individuals to help him commit the crimes.”
The prosecutor also argued that detaining individuals with the intent to commit robbery is kidnapping.
Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said in his closing argument that his client became a target because of who he is.
“This case has taken on a life of its own because of Mr. Simpson’s involvement. You know that. I know that,” Galanter told the jury.
“Every cooperator, every person who had a gun, every person who had an ulterior motive, every person who signed a book deal, every person who got paid money — the police, the district attorney’s office, is only interested in one thing: Mr. Simpson. He has always been the target of this investigation, and nothing else mattered,” Galanter said.
Galanter reminded the jury of a surreptitious recording of police investigators in the hotel room after the incident.
“They’re making jokes. They’re saying things like, ‘We’re gonna get him,’ ” he said.
Simpson and remaining co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart have pleaded not guilty to 12 counts.
