• OJ Simpson, the football star-turned-actor who was acquitted of double murder in 1995, was ordered to stand trial in what prosecutors say was the armed robbery of his own memorabilia from a pair of collectors.

    Las Vegas Judge Joe Bonaventure ordered Simpson, 60, to stand trial in the September 13 incident at the Palace Palace Station Hotel and Casino.

    Prosecutors say Simpson lead five accomplices in stealing the memorabilia at gunpoint from Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

    Walter Alexander, Charles Cashmore and Michael McClinton were also charged in the case initially but agreed to plead guilty and testify for the prosecution.

    Both Alexander and McClinton told the court during the hearing that Simpson asked them to bring guns to the Palace Station, just off the Vegas strip, to intimidate Fromong and Beardsley.

    Defense lawyers asked Bonaventure to dismiss the charges, saying that Simpson went to the hotel room only to recover his own stolen belongings and did not have a gun.

    Another man who was with Simpson during the incident, Thomas Riccio, testified last week that the former star running back made no mention of guns while helping plan the incident and was bent on retrieving his stolen property.

    Simpson, who parlayed his fame as an athlete into a career in Hollywood, was acquitted of the June 12, 1994, murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman after the sensational trial that transfixed much of the world.

    A civil court jury later found Simpson liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million (NZ$43.9 million) in damages to the victims' families, a judgment that remains largely unpaid.