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Reflecting on OJ Simpson trial
FOX 11 Los Angeles' Phil Shuman joins Andrew Craft to reflect on the historic murder trial that captured the nation.
LOS ANGELES - The executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate said he will work to prevent a payout of a $33.5 million judgment awarded by a California civil jury nearly three decades ago in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of Simpson’s former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
On April 12, two days after Simpson’s death, his will was filed in a Clark County court in Nevada, appointing his longtime attorney, Malcolm LaVergne, as the executor. The document revealed that Simpson's assets were placed into a trust established this year.
LaVergne, who had represented Simpson since 2009, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in a phone interview that he specifically did not want the Goldman family seeing any money from Simpson’s estate.
"It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing," LaVergne told the outlet. "Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing."
File: O. J. Simpson sits in Superior Court in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 1994 during an open court session in the double murder case. (Photo credit: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
LaVergne informed the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the total value of Simpson’s estate is yet to be determined. Per Nevada regulations, if an estate surpasses $20,000 in assets, it must undergo court probate proceedings.
O.J. Simpson trial
In 1994, Brown Simpson and Goldman were found stabbed to death at her condo in Los Angeles.
Simpson was quickly named a person of interest in the high-profile crime and, when he failed to turn himself in, police issued a warrant.
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That led to the infamous low-speed chase when TV stations broadcast live coverage of police trailing the white Ford Bronco as former teammate Al Cowlings drove Simpson across L.A. before he eventually surrendered.
Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders. In a widely watched televised trial, he was ultimately found not guilty. No one else was ever convicted for the deaths.
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Watch the O.J. Simpson chase unfold
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In 1996, the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit. The jury eventually found Simpson liable, awarding them over $33 million in damages.
However, Simpson passed away on Wednesday without fulfilling the bulk of the civil judgment awarded in 1997, when jurors held him responsible. As his assets are slated for probate, the Goldman and Brown families may be entitled to a portion of Simpson's remaining estate.
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Goldman’s father Fred Goldman, the lead plaintiff, always said the issue was never the money, it was only about holding Simpson responsible. And he said in a statement Thursday that with Simpson’s death, "the hope for true accountability has ended."
The Goldman and Brown families will be on at least equal footing with other creditors and will probably have an even stronger claim, as Simpson's estate is settled under terms established by the trust created in January. The will lists his four children and notes that any beneficiary who seeks to challenge provisions of the will "shall receive, free of trust, one dollar ($1.00) and no more in lieu of any claimed interest in this will or its assets."
This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.