By John Dickerson
Thirteen years ago yesterday O.J.Simpson was found "not guilty" in the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Since that day, Goldman's dad -- Fred Goldman -- has been living in Phoenix and pursuing justice against Simpson at any cost. So Goldman tells New Times he was more than a little excited this morning, as Simpson was found guilty yesterday of 12 criminal charges in a Nevada court. He could face life in prison.
"We're thrilled to see this verdict and hopefully our pursuit of him and our taking away the rights to the book [If I Did It] were just additional impetus for him making this stupid mistake -- his stupid mistake," Goldman said this morning on his cell phone. He's been fielding interview requests from national news outlets all morning. In 2007 I chronicled Goldman's battle over that book, a quasi-confessional by Simpson, here.
"I guess 13 will be his unlucky number," Goldman added. "Let him go down and let him spend the rest of his life in jail, where he belongs."
In the 13 years since Simpson's "not guilty" verdict -- one of the most watched moments in TV history -- Goldman has won a civil court "wrongful death" judgment against Simpson. He's also been a vocal critic of Simpson's NFL pension (about $20,000 per month), which was ruled as off-limits by a judge -- even after the civil judgment.
Goldman has also created a non-profit to bring awareness to violent offenders because, he says, Simpson had a pattern of violent behavior long before the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Simpson has faced two additional accusations of criminal violence in Florida. (Simpson moved to Florida -- a debtor friendly state -- after Goldman's civil judgment. In Florida, a head of household's home is off limits from civil judgment.). What Goldman calls a pattern of violent behavior in Simpson's life has finally caught up with him.
Simpson was convicted in Nevada of 12 charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. His confrontation in a Las Vegas hotel resulted from a dispute about sports memorabilia. Reportedly, Simpson has made hundreds of thousands in cash from sports memorabilia.
His cash transactions weren't monitored by courts, and so Goldman has long argued that Simpson was making thousands of unreported dollars on top of his pension -- and avoiding payments on the "wrongful death" judgment.
Goldman said he had to talk quickly because he was headed to his grandchild's birthday party. He added that Simpson's conviction isn't total justice, and it won't bring his son back.
