O.J. Simpson’s latest arrest: only alcoholism explains both the child-like behavior and the cast of characters, both alleged perps and victims
O.J. Simpson arrested–again
Another example of alcoholics pitted against alcoholics in the criminal justice system
“…I’m not going to blame being drunk [for having struck you] that’s (sic) no excuse. (But I have decided to stop drinking and will go to AA)” (parentheses in the original). So wrote O.J. Simpson in a 1989 letter of apology to Nicole Brown Simpson.
To understand O.J., one must grasp the concept of alcoholic egomania, which compels the addict to wield power over others. This explains how even successful, talented and charming people can create a mess of so many lives. In particular, it accounts for O.J.’s success on the playing field and as an actor, because success facilitates the use of power and, therefore, alcoholism in its early stages drives overachievement. It makes sense of a double-murder and numerous brushes with the law, because such abuse of others is part and parcel of power-seeking misbehaviors that serve to inflate the alcoholic ego. It also explains an apparent obsession with insuring that the Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman families, to whom Simpson owes millions pursuant to the civil lawsuit over the deaths of their children, never see another dime of “his money.”
O.J.’s latest escapade involves an attempt in a hotel room at the Las Vegas Palace Station Hotel & Casino to “recover” some of his sports memorabilia and, ironically, the suit he wore when he was acquitted of the infamous double-murder. He and five other men have been charged with various felony counts including kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. However, there are two points those outside of this rather exclusive circle may not consider. The first is that you couldn’t drum up credible fiction that corresponds with the actual events without understanding alcoholism-rooted egomania. The day his book “(If) I Did It” went on the bookshelves, Simpson allegedly committed the robbery. Sharlene Martin, the Los Angeles literary agent who arranged the book’s publication by the Goldman family, said she found it “so coincidental that [Simpson would be arrested] the day the book is released. It’s almost like a child that is throwing a temper tantrum because he’s not getting enough attention.” Indeed it is incomprehensible until we consider the possibility that it was not a coincidence and that the alleged robbery was an effort to re-inflate his bruised ego. As the great alcoholism expert Harry M. Tiebout, M.D., wrote in his 1954 pamphlet, “The Ego Factors in Surrender to Alcoholism,” the alcoholic ego emanates from Freud’s infant psyche, which assumes its own omnipotence, cannot accept frustrations and does everything in a hurry, without taking into account consequences. This is a perfect fit.
The second point is that the cast of characters surrounding him in the arrest after the Palace Station Casino incident consists solely of other likely alcoholics, which is consistent with the idea that much of what occurs in the criminal justice system pits addict v. addict. Bearing in mind that, as I show in Drunks, Drugs & Debits, at least 80-90% of convicts are alcohol or other-drug addicts, let’s look at the actors:
a. Thomas Riccio, who arranged the meeting in Las Vegas between O.J. and Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, who were attempting to sell some of O.J.’s sports memorabilia. Riccio’s stated intention was to help Simpson peacefully reclaim what was supposedly his. However, Riccio’s intentions may have been elsewhere: he secretly taped the meeting and immediately sold the tape for an undisclosed sum to TMZ.com. Riccio’s troubled past also suggests that other motives may have come into play: a conviction for grand larceny in Florida, possession of stolen goods in Connecticut and escaping prison, receiving stolen property and arson in California. His arson case is a classic in terms of alcoholic self-justification: he explained in a Larry King interview that vandals had severely damaged the property but his insurance company was refusing to pay what he considered a fair settlement unless the problem was worse. So, he made it worse by setting fire to the house. Riccio says the law enforcers “call that arson,” but he says it’s not. Huh?
b. Alfred Beardsley, 46, the sports memorabilia collector and key alleged victim in the case. He had been convicted of stalking and was arrested after the incident for violating parole in that case by leaving California.
c. Bruce Fromong, 53, the other such victim. He testified on Simpson’s behalf in the civil suit brought by the Ronald Goldman family. In a CBS interview, he admitted to traveling to the Cayman Islands to explore setting up offshore accounts to hide Simpson’s memorabilia earnings. Except for the fact that the IRS likes to build a perfect case before bringing charges for tax evasion, in my opinion it’s surprising they haven’t yet indicted Simpson.
d. Clarence J. Stewart, Jr., 53, a golfing and late-night party buddy of Simpson’s, accused also of armed robbery in the case. A Las Vegas mortgage broker, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate Stewart pleaded guilty to cocaine possession in Louisiana after being accused of trying to sell the drug to an undercover detective in 1987.
e. Michael F. McClinton, 49, another alleged burglary companion from whom police seized two handguns and an assault rifle they say were linked to the Palace Station incident. He pleaded guilty in 1999 to possession of a controlled substance.
f. Charles H. Cashmore, 40, was seen on a casino surveillance tape carrying boxes out of the Palace Station after the event. He got probation in the late ’90s after he was charged with felony theft in Utah.
g. Charles B. Ehrlich, 53, also spotted carrying boxes out of the casino. He was ordered to repay more than $500,000 and fined $60,000 after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of defrauding investors in Florida while acting as an unregistered broker-dealer in a penny-stock scheme.
h. Walter Alexander, 46, who was also arrested. He golfed and “partied” with Simpson for over a decade and reportedly bragged about his friendship with him.
i. Last but not least, the Juice himself, O.J. Simpson, 60. Since the murder trials, O.J. has been accused of assaulting a photographer, questioned by police regarding domestic disturbances, charged but not convicted in a road-rage incident, and investigated in connection with an Ecstasy ring and the pirating of satellite television signals. He was either acquitted or not charged in all of these incidents. The Goldman family won the rights to his book at the last second before its release by Simpson and a corporation he set up in his children’s names, after a federal bankruptcy judge called the scheme, created to insure that none of the profits would accrue to the Goldman family, a “sham.”