Facing alleged violent robbers at Hobos trial, ex-NBA player's memory fails


Bobby Simmons plays with the Los Angeles Clippers in a game at the Unied Center on Nov. 13, 2004. (Scott Strazzante / Chicago Tribune)
Kim JanssenContact Reporter
Chicago Tribune

Three years ago, former NBA player Bobby Simmons had a vivid memory of how he said he'd been robbed at gunpoint of a $200,000 diamond necklace outside a River North nightclub.

But testifying before a federal grand jury and at the trial of the hardened criminals you're accusing are two different things.

Faced across a courtroom Thursday from members of the Hobos street gang — who the feds say have a history of bumping off witnesses — Simmons memory failed him.

"I don't remember," he repeatedly answered a federal prosecutor's questions about the robbery on June 10, 2006.

Simmons, a Chicago native who excelled at DePaul University and was with the Milwaukee Bucks at the time of the incident, looked anything but comfortable on the stand despite wearing a gray sweatsuit to court.

While he acknowledged "I was robbed," all the details he'd previously provided to the grand jury evaporated as he stole nervous glances at the men he had accused. "I can't remember anything — it was so long ago," he said, even after he was shown his grand jury testimony.

He claimed no recollection of the gun he'd previously accused Paris "Poleroski" Poe of brandishing during the robbery, no knowledge of how much he paid for the diamond necklace, and no knowledge of the Land Rover he gave chase in after he was robbed. That meant he could not testify about the bullet holes police found in the side of the vehicle — evidence, the feds say, of shots Poe fired at Simmons.

Asked what he thought he'd paid for the necklace, he said. "I'm not a diamond expert, sir." But asked if he'd lied in his grand jury testimony, he said, "No, you can't do that, sir!"

"No, you can't," Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Storino agreed.

U.S. District Judge John Tharp cut short the prosecutor's misery by dismissing Simmons from the stand, though he said Simmons would likely be called back later this afternoon — likely to go through his grand jury testimony line by line.

Poe, who is standing trial alongside five of his alleged confederates, is accused of murdering two federal witnesses. That prompted court staff to increase security during what's expected to be a three-month trial, including installing a metal detector outside the courtroom, which Simmons would have seen as he entered to testify Thursday.