OJ Simpson bailed in robbery case

Ex-American football star OJ Simpson has been freed on bail from a Las Vegas jail as he faced charges of involvement in an alleged armed robbery.

Mr Simpson, 60, is accused of taking part in a raid on a sports memorabilia dealer in a hotel room last Thursday.

He posted bail of $125,000 (£63,000), but has been banned from contacting potential witnesses or from leaving the mainland United States.

He faces 11 charges including robbery and kidnapping, which he denies.

If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison.

Followed by cameras

Mr Simpson left the jail in central Las Vegas by the back door and got in a car driven by his lawyer Yale Galanter.

TV crews in cars and helicopters followed their progress down the motorway.

Earlier, Mr Galanter said Mr Simpson would return to his home in Florida.

In interviews before his arrest, Mr Simpson said he was trying to retrieve stolen items that belonged to him, and denied any guns were involved.

Three co-defendants have been charged with 11 criminal counts, including assault with a deadly weapon.

Speaking outside court after the hearing, Mr Simpson's lawyer said he expected his client to plead not guilty to all charges.

Settlements

Entering court wearing a blue cotton prison outfit and with his hands cuffed, Mr Simpson looked taken aback as details of the charges were read out to him.

Profile: OJ Simpson

His voice croaked as he told the judge that he lived in Florida.

Mr Galanter said his client, who played as running back for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers in the 1960s and 1970s before becoming an actor, would not give any media interviews while on bail.

Mr Simpson will face 10 felony charges over the incident at the Palace Station Casino:

• Conspiracy to commit kidnapping
• Conspiracy to commit robbery
• Two counts of kidnapping with a deadly weapon
• Burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon
• Two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon
• Two counts of assault with a deadly weapon
• Coercion with use of a deadly weapon

He also faces a misdemeanour charge of conspiracy to commit a crime.

The former star gained international notoriety in 1995 when he was tried and acquitted of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Although Mr Simpson was cleared of murder in a criminal court in 1995, he was later found liable for the deaths at a civil trial and ordered to pay $33.5m (£17m) in damages - money that has never been collected.

In July, the rights to Mr Simpson's book If I Did It were awarded to Mr Goldman's family to help cover the judgement.

The book, in which Mr Simpson describes how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend, was published in the US on Thursday by Beaufort Books.