Friday January 26 5:05 PM ET
California Court Rejects O.J. Simpson's Appeal

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California appeals court on Friday upheld a civil jury's finding that ``Trial of the Century'' defendant O.J. Simpson was liable for the 1994 deaths of his ex-wife and her friend, saying that the jury -- in essence -- found the former football star guilty of two vicious murders.

The three-judge panel also unanimously upheld the jury's finding that Simpson should pay the families of victims Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman $33.5 million in damages in the
wrongful death lawsuit.

The judges on California's 2nd District Court of Appeals said, ``In effect, the jury found that Simpson committed two deliberate, vicious murders. This is the most reprehensible conduct that society condemns and is ordinarily punished under California criminal law by a sentence of death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.''

In their unanimous, 67-page opinion, the appeals court judges said, ``The harm suffered by the victims was the maximum possible; they were intentionally killed.''

They rejected Simpson's argument that the damages were excessive, ``considering the outrageousness of Simpson's conduct and the enormity of its consequences.''

``Enormity Of His Misconduct'' Cited

``The evidence ... shows that Simpson is a wealthy man, with prospects to gain more wealth in the future,'' the judges wrote. ''The enormity of his misconduct shows that a large amount of ...
damages is necessary to punish him and deter him.''

In a controversial criminal trial that lasted more than a year, Simpson was acquitted of the June 12, 1994 stabbing and slashing murders of his ex-wife and Goldman.

The sensational televised case was dubbed the ``Trial of the Century'' because it held Americans spellbound on a daily basis as Simpson's ``dream team'' of high-priced lawyers picked apart what prosecutors thought was a mountain of evidence.

But the families of Brown and Goldman, thinking that Simpson had gotten away with murder, brought a wrongful death civil suit against him which ended with a jury finding the former football star and actor liable for the deaths,

The appeals court judges rejected Simpson's claims that the civil court trial judge erred by, among other things, admitting evidence that Simpson abused his ex-wife and letting jurors hear
statements made by her before her death and that he failed a lie detector test.

``We find no merit to any of these contentions and therefore we affirm the judgements,'' the judges wrote.

Dan Leonard, the attorney who represented Simpson on appeal, could not immediately be reached for comment on the decision. Simpson, who won custody of his two children with Nicole, now lives in Florida.

``The (appeals) court unanimously affirmed the verdict of the jury finding Simpson responsible and rejected every contention Mr. Simpson made on appeal,'' Goldman family attorney Daniel Petrocelli said.

``The court declared there was no error whatsoever in the damages the jury awarded, particularly in light of the reprehensibility of his actions.''

Petrocelli, who cross-examined Simpson during the civil trial, said his attorneys could appeal the case to the California Supreme Court but added: ``I don't think there are any grounds for it.''

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