O.J.'s Wrongful-Death Debt Still in Place

Wed., Feb. 20, 2008 9:42 PM PST by Natalie Finn

O.J. Simpson won't be finding himself off the hook anytime soon.

A California appellate court on Wednesday upheld the renewal of the decade-old wrongful-death judgment leveled against him in connection with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.

Simpson's camp had been looking to get the verdict thrown out under the argument that the Los Angeles Superior Court no longer has jurisdiction over the former football star, who now counts himself a Florida resident.

While Goldman's family, headed up by patriarch Fred, has managed little victories against Simpson over the past year, including the acquisition of the rights to Simpson's hypothetical tell-all, If I Did It, and a judge's ruling that the family is entitled to all of the Naked Gun star's residuals from past TV and film appearances, they've hardly seen any of the $33.5 million originally awarded to them.

Fred Goldman filed a renewal in October 2006 stating Simpson has continued to refuse to pay the sum, which with interest has increased to about $40 million. The renewal's approval also prevented the ruling from expiring, which was set to happen Mar. 10.

The renewal is good for another 10 years, Goldman family attorney David Cook, who helped Ron's dad win the rights to the ultimately bestselling If I Did It, said Wednesday.

"A plane ticket to Miami is not a free pass for a wrongful death judgment," he told the Associated Press.

Simpson was acquitted of murder charges following his lengthy criminal trial, but a civil jury found him liable for Brown and Goldman's deaths in 1997.

The 60-year-old All-Pro running back, currently free on $250,000 bail, is awaiting trial along with two codefendants in Clark County, Nevada, on felony charges of armed robbery, kidnapping, coercion, conspiracy, assault and burglary for allegedly masterminding the September shakedown of two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Simpson maintains he organized the meeting to retrieve items that had been stolen from him by a former agent.