LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AFP) — Prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson trial rested their case Monday with testimony from a gunman who claimed the sports star asked him to bring a weapon to a confrontation with two memorabilia dealers at a Las Vegas hotel last year.
Michael McClinton demonstrated for the jury how he held his .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun after bursting into a hotel room with Simpson and four other friends on Sept. 13, 2007.
The two dealers were robbed at gunpoint in a sting operation prosecutors allege was orchestrated by Simpson, 61, who was famously acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend at a 1995 trial in Los Angeles.
Simpson could be jailed for life if convicted of a dozen robbery and kidnapping charges at his current trial.
"The weapon was out the whole time I was in the room," McClinton said under cross-examination.
Simpson and friend Charles Stewart face a dozen counts of robbery, kidnapping and assault against the two memorabilia dealers who sought to sell personal Simpson items allegedly stolen from the star's home in the 1990s.
Four others who participated in the raid, including McClinton, testified for the prosecution in exchange for pleading guilty to lesser charges.
During two weeks of testimony, prosecutors called 18 witnesses comprised of the victims, former Simpson friends, police and crime scene analysts.
Prosecutors have sought to show Simpson had served as the ringleader to the operation and was aware that his cohorts would be carrying guns.
Defense lawyers allege Simpson didn't know weapons were being used and he was merely trying to retrieve items that were rightfully his.
Simpson and Stewart are expected to wrap up their defense cases on Wednesday, with closing arguments planned for Thursday. Court will not in be session Tuesday.
One of the most famous American football players of his generation during a glittering 1970s career, Simpson was the prime suspect in the brutal murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman.
Simpson, who has always vehemently denied the killings, was acquitted of murder after a racially charged Los Angeles trial in 1995, a verdict that was greeted with widespread outrage across America.
Simpson was subsequently found liable for the deaths in a 1997 civil suit and was ordered to pay damages to the victims' families totaling 33.5 million dollars.
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