FORT LAUDERDALE -- Three of four charges against former Miami Dolphins safety Gene Atkins were dropped Monday in an arson trial, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

The newspaper reported that circuit court Judge Joel T. Lazarus dismissed three charges -- firebombing, attempted murder and attempted aggravated battery -- citing a lack of evidence.

The only remaining charge left against Atkins is solicitation to commit a firebombing, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. He had faced a maximum of 10 years on the four charges.

"There is no evidence of direct participation," Lazarus said. He also said there was no evidence that met the "reasonable minds" standard -- one on which most people would agree -- that Atkins knew in advance about the crime.

Earlier in the day, Atkins denied in court ever asking anyone to firebomb or otherwise harm his ex-business partner.

Atkins, on trial in a Broward County courtroom for attempted second-degree murder and related charges stemming from the April 1998 firebombing in suburban Miramar, testified for about 20 minutes in his own defense.

Defense attorney Fred Haddad engaged Atkins in a rapid-fire question-and-answer session about the early morning attack with Molotov cocktails that left the home of Alfred Simmons in flames.

Atkins said he supplied the money for the construction partnership and Simmons, Atkins' college roommate, brought the know-how and contacts. The business folded months after Simmons left to join a rival firm.

In his denials, Atkins contradicted testimony of three prosecution witnesses who said he hired them to "mess up" Simmons in revenge for leaving the construction business the two had started around 1996. The three men were convicted in the firebombing. Antiono Holloway served a year. Dedrick Blocker and Corey Graham, serving 15 years and life, respectively, were offered help seeking reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony. Earlier in the day, Lazarus denied the usual defense motion for acquittal, but called the first three of the charges against Atkins "troublesome."