LAS VEGAS -- O.J. Simpson gets out of a 7-by-14-foot jail cell in Las Vegas Wednesday morning for a court appearance in a robbery case.

And his lawyer said his immediate priority is to keep Simpson from having to go back behind bars.

The former NFL star is charged with 11 criminal counts including first-degree kidnapping over an alleged hotel-room robbery last weekend.

Simpson said he was just trying to recover stolen memorabilia. If convicted, he could get life in prison and for now is being held without bond.

Simpson is to be arraigned Wednesday morning before a justice of the peace. And under Nevada law, she has wide discretion in setting bail and conditions of release.

Simpson attorney Yale Galanter said he plans to ask that Simpson be released on his own recognizance.

Simpson was charged along with three other men who police believe barged into a hotel room at the Palace Station casino and stole sports memorabilia from two collectors.

According to the complaint, the group went to Room 1203 under the pretext of brokering a deal with Alfred Beardsley and Bruce Fromong, two longtime collectors of Simpson memorabilia. Once in the room, Simpson prevented one of the collectors from calling 911 on his cell phone "by ripping it out of Bruce Fromong's hand" while one or more accomplices pointed or displayed a handgun, the document says.

The complaint does not specify which of the men involved was carrying the weapon.

The kidnapping charges accuse the men of detaining each of the men "against his will, and without his consent, for the purpose of committing a robbery."

Fromong, a crucial witness in the case, was in critical condition in a Los Angeles hospital on Tuesday, after suffering a heart attack.

Simpson sat in a Las Vegas jail awaiting a Wednesday arraignment on the charges, which include 10 felonies against him.

Two others named in the complaint, Walter Alexander and Clarence Stewart, have been arrested and released pending court hearings.

Authorities said Michael McClinton, 49, of Las Vegas, "a key player" in the alleged theft, turned himself in Tuesday night.

Goldman Family Wants Memorabilia

The family of Ron Goldman plans to file a request Tuesday in Superior Court in California to obtain ownership of the sports memorabilia seized after an alleged hotel robbery involving Simpson.

The family has been trying to track down various Simpson assets as partial settlement of the civil award against Simpson in Goldman's death.

Alleged Victim Hospitalized

One of the alleged victims in the case involving Simpson was admitted to one hospital and transferred to another Monday after complaining of chest pains.

A hospital official said Bruce Fromong was admitted to Century City Hospital Monday afternoon and discharged about two hours later for transfer to Cedars Sinai Hospital. It's not known if he's still hospitalized.

Audiotape Surfaces

An apparent audiotape of Simpson's standoff with men he accused of stealing his sports memorabilia has surfaced.

The tape was released Monday by TMZ.com. In it, Simpson is heard shouting questions and expletives while other men are heard shouting orders to the men in the room.

The former NFL star is heard demanding, "Don't let nobody out of this room."

TMZ said the tape was made on a handheld recorder that belongs to a co-owner of the Universal Rarities auction house, Thomas Riccio.

He told the site he believed Simpson was planning to confront another man who was allegedly planning to auction off the memorabilia.