Judge Orders Simpson To Turn Over Belongings Heisman Trophy, Golf Clubs Among Items To Be Surrendered To Squabbling Goldman, Brown Families
The judge in the O.J. Simpson case agreed to order Simpson to turn over more than 100 of his belongings, including his Heisman Trophy, his golf clubs and an Andy Warhol silkscreen of himself.
The nearly $500,000 inventory was culled from insurance records by the plaintiffs who won a $33.5 million verdict holding Simpson responsible for the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
“I think I will sign this order. Let the sheriffs take ahold of this property and the parties fight it out,” Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki announced after a one-hour hearing Thursday.
After the order is served, Simpson has seven days to turn over the items to the Sheriff’s Department for sale to satisfy the judgment. He has the right to seek exemptions, including a $5,000 exemption for jewelry and art, attorneys said.
The turnover order was requested by Goldman’s family. At the hearing, it was learned Fujisaki granted a similar order Monday for Nicole Simpson’s estate.
That order included 66 items, some not on the Goldman inventory, including a Yamaha grand piano and signed letters from former President Richard M. Nixon congratulating Simpson on his football victories.
The Brown and Goldman families have been squabbling over collecting their share of the verdict. The question appears to be who can collect first.
Fujisaki admonished the attorneys in the case: “You guys are just running up money, expenses for everyone. I’m really getting disturbed by this whole process.”
Among the items sought by Goldman’s estate were $43,860 in awards and trophies; Simpson’s $5,100 Heisman Trophy; a $700 Buffalo Bills football helmet; a $24,480 Tiffany-design leaded glass lamp; a $25,500 Andy Warhol silkscreen of Simpson; a $40,000 14-carat gold necklace with 89 diamonds; and a $26,500 amber fox fur.
Goldman’s estate also sought silverware, rugs and Lalique and Baccarat crystal, Simpson’s $60,000 Chevy Suburban, and stocks and other interests in five Simpson companies including O.J. Simpson Enterprises Inc. and Orenthal Productions Inc.
Simpson’s lawyer, Phil Baker, argued that “99 percent of the items” sought by the Goldmans were no longer Simpson’s and had been placed in trust for Simpson’s children.
The trust was set up March 10. Goldman family attorney Peter Gelblum said that was the same day the damage judgment against Simpson was entered.
“It has the earmarks of a fraudulent conveyance. He’s trying to hide his assets,” Gelblum told reporters. “He’s using his children to hide his assets.”
But Baker told the judge that the trust was set up as “partial satisfaction” of the judgment and that the money would go to Simpson’s children.