With O.J. Simpson’s release, effort resumes to collect $33.5-million judgment, Goldman attorney says
O.J. Simpson’s release from a Nevada prison early Sunday will launch a renewed effort to collect from him a 1997 civil jury award that held him liable in the deaths of his estranged wife and her friend, a family attorney said.
The onetime football legend was paroled for his 2007 conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping at 12:08 a.m. Sunday.
Attorney David Cook, who represents the father of Ron Goldman, told CNN the $33.5 million Simpson was ordered to pay the victims’ families had since ballooned to nearly $70 million with interest. He said he renewed the judgment in 2015 at $57 million.
Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murdering Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson in a criminal trial that was closely watched across the nation and revealed deep-seated racial tensions. A civil jury found there was enough evidence to hold Simpson accountable for their stabbing deaths, but only a fraction of the multimillion-dollar award was ever collected.
Simpson served nine years in prison for leading a group of men into a Las Vegas hotel and casino to steal sports memorabilia at gunpoint. A parole board granted him release in July after serving a portion of his 33-year sentence with credit for good behavior and taking classes in prison.
Simpson’s attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, told CNN as far as he knew, his client will be a retiree and won’t have assets for the victim’s family to collect.
For more California news, follow me on Twitter @vicjkim
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