CNN O.J. Simpson Trial

Goldman family

Simpson case: Goldmans to be questioned

Family begins depositions in wrongful death suit

Hill

February 5, 1996
Web posted at: 12:00 a.m. EST

From Reporter Jim Hill


LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Starting Monday, O.J. Simpson's lawyers get to ask the questions.

Kim and Fred Goldman

Kim Goldman, sister of Ron Goldman, was to begin her deposition Monday as part of the discovery process in the wrongful death civil lawsuit filed against Simpson by relatives of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, who were found brutally stabbed to death outside Ms. Simpson's home on June 13, 1994.

Simpson was acquitted of the crimes in October.

Financial loss, emotional ties

One line of questioning will focus on financial loss. Simpson's lawyers hope to show that Ron Goldman did not have a major economic role in his family, said University of Southern California law professor Erwin Chemerinsky. (111K AIFF sound or 111K WAV sound)

The defense also will try to minimize the family's emotional loss by trying to establish how close Goldman was to his father and estranged mother, said legal expert Stan Goldman of Loyola University. (162K AIFF sound or 162K WAV sound)

Contradictions

L.A. Times headline

Simpson has already undergone five days of questioning by the Goldman family's lawyer.

Deposition transcripts published in the Los Angeles Times show Simpson denied beating his ex-wife, even though he pleaded no contest to spousal battery in 1989 and witnesses testified in his criminal trial that they saw him abuse Nicole Brown Simpson.

OJ and Nicole

In another inconsistency, the transcripts show that Simpson insisted the reason he was late for a limousine ride on the night of the killings was not because he was taking a nap. During the trial, limousine driver Alan Park testified that Simpson had told him he had overslept.

The contradictions may come back to haunt Simpson, Chemerinsky said, if jurors in the civil trial don't believe him.

"It could undermine Simpson's credibility . . . and could truly be decisive," he said.

Simpson is scheduled to resume his deposition in two weeks.


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