LOS ANGELES (AFP) — American football legend O.J. Simpson was freed from jail on Wednesday after a first court appearance on robbery and kidnapping charges amid circus-like scenes that echoed his 1995 murder trial.
A scrum of media and a crowd of supporters and protestors were on hand in Las Vegas to catch a glimpse of Simpson, who was famously acquitted of killing his ex-wife Nicole and her friend in a verdict that sparked outrage.
"Set the 'Juice' loose!" yelled one supporter outside the Clark County Detention Center, referring to the football legend's sporting nickname, while another woman shouted "Justice for Nicole!"
Television networks then tracked the car carrying Simpson as it headed towards the Las Vegas strip, evoking images of the 1994 case, when his slow-speed chase in a white Ford Bronco was broadcast live.
Simpson had been granted bail at 125,000 dollars at an early morning hearing in Las Vegas after spending four days behind bars.
"He's very relieved, very happy. He just wants to get home and be with his friends and kids," Simpson's attorney Yale Galanter told reporters.
Galanter praised the judge's decision to release Simpson, and said there was no chance of his client trying to flee the charges.
"There is not a place on the planet where Mr. Simpson could go where people would not recognize him," Galanter said, adding that Simpson would eventually be pleading not guilty.
Sixty-year-old former sports icon Simpson, wearing a blue prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, was led into a courtroom via an underground tunnel.
Marcia Clark, the prosecutor who spearheaded the murder case against Simpson in 1995, was among the courtroom spectators.
Simpson, who has been held in isolation since his arrest, spoke in a husky voice only to confirm that he understood the charges against him and to confirm his place of residence.
He has been charged with 11 offenses, including two counts of conspiracy to commit kidnapping with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. He could be jailed for life if convicted on the kidnapping charges.
A further hearing has been set for October 22.
The charges stem from an incident at a Las Vegas casino hotel on Thursday, when a gang of gun-toting men that included Simpson is reported to have stormed into a hotel room and snatched sporting memorabilia from two dealers.
In interviews prior to his arrest Simpson denied robbery, saying he was only recovering items that had been illegally stolen from him. He also denied that anyone in the group was armed.
On a tape that surfaced in US media reports on Monday, a man identified as Simpson could be heard angrily confronting the two sports memorabilia dealers, Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong.
In a further twist to the case, it emerged late Tuesday that Fromong had been hospitalized in Los Angeles after suffering a massive heart attack.
Beardsley, meanwhile, was arrested in Las Vegas on Wednesday for alleged parole violation relating to a California arrest warrant, police said.
One of the most famous American football players of his generation during a glittering 1970s career that saw him set several records, Simpson was the prime suspect in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman.
Nicole, who had filed for divorce from Simpson in 1992 citing his "abusive behavior," was attacked so savagely that she was almost decapitated.
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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