Most of the world won’t be shocked to hear the news that it is taking a judge to force O.J. Simpson to fork over money to the Goldman family.
According to news reports, a Florida judge recently ruled that the former football star must give any money his attorney is holding for him to the family of murder victim Ronald Goldman to satisfy a multimillion-dollar wrongful death judgment.
Simpson’s attorney is reportedly holding about $3,500 for Simpson in a client trust account. To most people the dollar amount is quite insignificant, but to the Goldman family, which has tried for years to collect at least some of a $33.5 million judgment against Simpson, the court ruling could add up to something huge.
According to an attorney for the Goldman’s, the judge’s ruling could offer broader implications. In the decade since the civil ruling against Simpson, attorneys say virtually none of the money has been collected, and the family has accused Simpson of trying to conceal his income.
“It is a shot over the bow,” the Goldman’s attorney told news reporters. “It’s significant that we’re reaching money over state lines, and it’s a significant message to Mr. Simpson that we will find every asset there is.”
Not a day has gone by since Simpson’s 1995 acquittal of the slayings of ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman that the former NBC sports analyst has not tried to sway public opinion. The ex-NFL standout recently made headlines again for the brouhaha caused by his cancelled book “If I Did It.” The book reportedly explains how Simpson might have committed the killings, but it was never released because of massive public outrage. (The Goldman family has also been pursuing money from that book deal.) And just a few weeks ago, Simpson caused a stir in Louisville when he tried to frequent a popular upscale restaurant prior to the Kentucky Derby.
You have to feel bad for the Goldman family and wonder how it is that they maintain their integrity throughout what I can only imagine is an agonizing and frustrating process. Consider what they have gone through: the loss of child followed by the suspected murderer now spending his days living it up in Florida playing golf and eating at upscale restaurants. Then having to deal with the fact that a Los Angeles judge ordered Simpson’s book rights to be auctioned off, with proceeds from the auction and any subsequent book profits turned over to them… only to have the auction be put off after the company that struck the book deal filed for bankruptcy.
Geez…