LOS ANGELES : Alleged Madam’s Trial Set for Same Date as Simpson’s

The trial of alleged Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, scheduled to start next week, was postponed Tuesday to Sept. 19, the same date as the scheduled start of O.J. Simpson’s murder trial.

The date could pose an airwave quandary. Football great Simpson is accused of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman, and preliminary hearings in both trials have received gavel-to-gavel coverage on network television, even preempting regular programming.

District attorney’s office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the Fleiss trial had been delayed because the prosecutor in the case, Deputy Dist. Atty. Alan Carter, was tied up in a murder case that would not be finished by the previously scheduled date of Aug. 22.

Fleiss is accused of running a high-priced call-girl ring in a case that has fascinated and titillated the nation for more than a year. The 28-year-old daughter of a prominent Los Angeles pediatrician pleaded not guilty last September to four counts of pandering--procuring the services of women for prostitution--and one count of possessing cocaine.