Judge claims issues raised by Simpson's lawyers are insufficient grounds for retrial

OJ Simpson failed to win a new trial today from the judge who oversaw his conviction in the gunpoint robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.

The Judge, Jackie Glass, said the issues raised by lawyers for Simpson and co-defendant Clarence Stewart were insufficient grounds for a retrial.

Glass acknowledged during a hearing that the ruling paved the way for Simpson and Stewart to appeal to the Nevada supreme court.

Simpson and Stewart were convicted of 12 charges last month, including armed robbery and kidnapping, and they face up to life in prison when sentenced in December.

Stewart's lawyer, Brent Bryson, said the jury foreman was guilty of misconduct, quoting the foreman as saying he thought Simpson should have been given a life sentence in the Los Angeles case.

A jury of nine women and three men unanimously found Simpson guilty of all 12 charges after more than 13 hours of deliberations, 13 years after he was cleared of a double murder.

The former American football star was found guilty of holding up two sports memorabilia dealers in a room at the Palace Station hotel and casino in Las Vegas before stealing items from them on September 13 last year.

Simpson was cleared of murdering his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, in a high-profile trial by a predominantly black jury in Los Angeles in 1995.

The verdict divided America on racial lines and prompted debates over the suitability of televised court cases.

In his latest trial, Simpson was accused of taking a gang of men to the Palace Station to retrieve items he lost while trying to hide them from Goldman's family, which won $33.5m (£18.9m) in damages from Simpson in a civil case.

Four of the five men who accompanied Simpson to the casino - Charles Cashmore, Walter "Goldie" Alexander, Michael "Spencer" McClinton and Charles Ehrlich - accepted plea deals and agreed to testify for the prosecution.

The fifth, Stewart, 54, was Simpson's golfing friend and co-defendant in the trial.

Simpson's lawyers said he never intended to commit a robbery but wanted to reclaim personal mementoes of his career and family life being sold by the dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

Simpson did not give evidence during the three-week trial, and jurors were instructed not to consider that when judging the case.

Judge Glass, who rejected several mistrial motions and kept a tight rein on the proceedings, warned the all-white jury against trying to punish Simpson over the death of his former wife.

She told them if they hoped to become famous because of the trial "then this is not the case for you".

The charges included two of first degree kidnapping, two of armed robbery, two of assault with a deadly weapon, two of coercion with a deadly weapon, burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit a crime, kidnapping and robbery.

Simpson was refused bail pending sentencing in early December.