LAS VEGAS — A week after jurors were told to forget O.J. Simpson’s past, the prosecutor in his robbery-kidnapping trial on Monday reminded them of the civil judgment against the former football star in the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend.
“That’s a different case and different facts, but the effect of the judgment is something you may consider,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens said in his opening statement.
Simpson and a friend are accused of robbing sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas hotel room last year.
In his statement to jurors, Owens spoke of Fred Goldman, whose son, Ron, was slain in 1994 along with Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges but found liable in a civil case brought by Fred Goldman and ordered to pay more than $30 million.
Owens said he would show that Simpson came to Nevada to confront the two dealers because he felt that if he took back personal property in California, Goldman would seize and sell it.
Defense attorney Yale Galanter, angered by Owens’ tactic, told jurors: “This case . . . is not about what occurred in California. This case is not about Fred Goldman. It is about what happened in Las Vegas last year this time and whether crimes were committed.”
Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart have pleaded not guilty to charges including robbery, coercion, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.
