8A
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007
CRIME
Co-defendant takes plea deal, set to testify against Simpson
LAS VEGAS — A man whose lawyer said he could testify that O.J. Simpson asked him to bring guns to a confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers told a judge 6n Monday that he would accept a plea deal and testify against Simpson and two other men.
Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, became the third man to agree to plead guilty to reduced charges in return for his testimony.
He told justice of the Peace Joe M. Bonaventure he would plead guilty to robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. He could receive probation or as many as 11 years in prison.
McClinton wielded a gun and acted like a police officer Sept. 13 when Simpson and five other men confronted collectibles dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley at an off-strip casino hotel, police reports said. Walter Alexander, aSimpson golfing buddy from Mesa, Ariz., who also took a plea deal and agreed to testify in the case, told police that McClinton gave a gun to him, but that he never took it out of his waistband.
McClinton, a security guard whose guns were confiscated and who agreed to surrender his concealed weapons permit, spoke in court only to acknowledge he understood the terms of the plea agreement and to waive his preliminary hearing.
The judge declined to lift house arrest restrictions for McClinton, who posted $32,000 bail after he was arrested Sept. 18.
In brief comments outside the courtroom, McClinton's lawyer, William Terry, confirmed that
McClinton could testify Simpson asked him to bring two guns when they went to the hotel room at the Palace Station casino.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"There's no reason to dispute that." Terry said.
Terry said McClinton's testimony at a scheduled Nov. 8 preliminary hearing will come before his Nov. 13 plea. The lawyer said further details of McClinton's role would come out "during the course of the preliminary hearing or ... after he enters his plea."
McClinton's testimony would provide prosecutors with another account contradicting Simpson's claim that no guns were involved when he went to retrieve items he said belonged to him.
His plea is not a surprise, said Simpson attorney Yale Galanter. He thought McClinton would be the last cooperating witness.
"What this comes down to is the real bad guys are pointing a finger at O.J., and the prosecution is giving away the courthouse to try to shore up their case," Galanter told The Associated Press. "We look forward to cross-examining these witnesses at the preliminary hearing next week."
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich each face 12 criminal charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and coercion and one gross misdemeanor, conspiracy to commit a crime. A kidnapping conviction alone could result in a sentence of life in prison with parole.
Lawyers for Stewart and Ehrlich did not respond to messages seeking comment about McClinton's plea deal.
Alexander told police that
Charles Howard Cashmire, a co-defendant in the D.J. Simpson armed robbery case, told a judge Monday he would plead guilty to a felony and testify against Simpson and four others in the hotel room theft of sports collections from two memorabia dealers. Cashmire, a Las Vegas resident, could receive probation or as many as 11 years in prison.
Simpson said to bring guns, and told him later to deny that guns were used. Alexander pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit robbery, and could face probation or up to six years in prison.
Charles Cashmore, a union laborer from Las Vegas, pleaded guilty to felony accessory to robbery and also agreed to testify against the three men. He could receive probation or up to five years in prison.
Authorities say memorabilia taken from the hotel room included football game balls signed by Simpson, Joe Montana lithographs, baseballs autographed by Pete Rose and Duke Snider, photos of Simpson with the Heisman Trophy and framed awards and plaques, together valued at as much as $100,000, according to police reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks at a press conference at his Jerusalem office Monday. Olmert announced Monday that he had prostate cancer but that the disease was not life-threatening, and that he would continue to perform his duties.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Israeli prime minister reveals cancer diagnosis
Ehud Olmert expected to make full recovery after short surgery, should resume control of position on same day of operation
》 WORLD
BY MATTI FRIEDMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israelis on Monday that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer but said that the disease was not life-threatening and would not disrupt his work as the country's leader.
The disclosure came at a sensitive time in Mideast diplomacy, with Olmert and another one-time prostate cancer patient — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — struggling to bridge gaping differences ahead of a U.S.-brokered peace conference.
Speaking calmly before a packed hall of reporters, Olmert said that the disease was caught early and that he would have surgery "over the next few months." Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the surgery would be done after the conference.
"I will be able to carry out my duties fully before the treatment and within hours afterward," Olmert said. "My doctors ... informed me that there is a full chance of recovery and there is nothing about the tumor that is life-threatening or liable to impair my performance or my ability to carry out the mission which has been bestowed upon me.
"It is a matter of a microscopic growth, it hasn't spread and can be removed by a short surgical procedure. According to the medical opinion, there will be no need for radiation treatment or chemotherapy," Olmert said.
Israeli leaders traditionally kept information on their private lives and health from the public, but that changed abruptly when Olmert's predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a stroke that left him comatose in January 2006. Many Israelis felt they should have been better informed about their leader's ill health and that concern clearly contributed to Olmert's swift and detailed announcement of his diagnosis.
The 62-year-old Olmert spoke for about three minutes before leaving the room and turning the podium over to his doctors.
The news came just ahead of a U.S.-brokered summit designed to relaunch long-stalled peace talks. It was not clear how or if Olmert's illness would affect his troubled efforts to frame a common outline with the Palestinians before the conference, scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Md., in November or December.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Olmert's illness was not likely to delay the conference. "We wish him very well," she said.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Olmert "to wish him a speedy recovery," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's commissioner for external relations, said: "I've seen Prime Minister Olmert in the morning. I must say he was serene, he was joking, he was open and he was very much in control of himself," she said. "Personally I don't think that this will jeopardize the talks."
He said he did not expect Olmert's illness to affect Rice's plans to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories beginning this weekend.
One of Olmert's doctors, Shlomo Segev, said the prime minister had a biopsy Oct. 19 and received the results Friday. He said the cancer showed up in only one of 12 samples taken from Olmert's prostate.
When Olmert was informed of the results, "There was nothing that showed fear" Segev said.
Another of his doctors, Yaacov Ramon, said treatment could wait several months without any risk, and that surgery should eliminate the cancer. The chances of full recovery are 95 percent, he said.
He said men who had the surgery were usually hospitalized for three days, followed by a recuperation period at home during which they could work. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is expected to take over if Olmert is incapacitated.
The prostate is a walnut-shaped gland beneath the base of the penis that makes seminal fluid.
liament in 1973, was catapulted into the prime minister's seat after Sharon's 2006 stroke. Considered a back-room operator with considerable political talent but little charisma, Olmert nonetheless led the new Kadima Party formed by Sharon to victory in parliamentary elections two months later. Sharon remains unconscious and is hospitalized in a long-term care facility.
Though pilloried for mishandling Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon that summer, Olmert has managed to keep his coalition government together despite dismal approval ratings.
"We wish him a speedy recovery, and we hope to continue working with him toward achieving a two-state solution and ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967," Erekat said.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat sent his best wishes to the Israeli leader.
In recent months, he has been meeting regularly with Abbas in an effort to draft a joint statement on peace ahead of the Annapolis conference. Abbas had surgery for prostate cancer in 2001.
Several high-profile U.S. politicians have disclosed their battles with cancer in recent years, including three current U.S. presidential candidates.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was sidelined politically in 2000 after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, only to reenter the fray ahead of next year's presidential race. Former "Law & Order" star Fred Thompson was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and Republican Sen. John McCain has had three bouts with melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.
According to Cancer Research UK, more than 670,000 men worldwide are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year, making it the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer. It is found mainly in men older than 55, and the average age of diagnosis is 70, according to the European Society for Medical Oncology.
Ramon said doctors planned to remove Olmert's prostate gland. Treatment often leads to problems having sex or controlling the bladder, so finding a way to distinguish which tumors can safely be left alone is the field's top priority.
Olmert, who first entered par-
Elizabeth Edwards, wife of presidential candidate John Edwards, announced her breast cancer had returned, and White House spokesman Tony Snow recently had surgery for cancer that spread to his liver.