Lawyer Demands Simpson Prove Resnick Claim

Fred Goldman’s lawyer said Wednesday that there is “not a single shred of evidence” linking the murders of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson to Faye Resnick and drug activity, as O.J. Simpson has alleged.

Attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli issued a challenge to Simpson to come forward with any proof that he has on this issue.

Simpson was unavailable for comment. Petrocelli said Simpson’s lawyers initially filed papers saying they wanted to depose Resnick but never served her. Petrocelli said that if Simpson’s lawyers were serious about his allegations, they would “call Faye and her world” to the witness stand, a reference to Simpson’s charge that “the answer to these murders are in the world of Faye Resnick.” A jury acquitted Simpson of the June 12, 1994, murders in October.

Resnick, who wrote a controversial memoir of her relationship with Simpson’s ex-wife--”Nicole Brown Simpson: The Private Diary of a Life Interrupted”--blasted Simpson’s allegations in an interview with The Times on Monday and in subsequent television talk show appearances. Resnick also said she was leaving Los Angeles because she feared for her safety, but declined to say where she was headed.

Michael Viner, president of Dove Books, which published Resnick’s first book and the just-published “Shattered,” said “she has left Los Angeles,” but declined to say where she had gone. “There is a great deal of concern for her safety as a result of O.J.’s blaming her for the deaths of Nicole and Ron Goldman and his problems,” Viner said.

He added, “It is my belief that if it is O.J.’s plan for her not to be there for the Goldman and Brown families in this matter, he will not succeed.”

Petrocelli said he would like to depose Resnick because “she has important information on the relationship between Nicole and O.J. Simpson.” Asked if he would try to question her if she is far away, Petrocelli said, “We can go anywhere the witness is.”

Petrocelli also said that since excerpts of the first five days of Simpson’s deposition had been disclosed, his firm had received a number of calls from individuals providing information that contradicted statements made by Simpson.

Petrocelli made the comments in response to reporters’ questions after a hearing in the civil wrongful death cases filed against Simpson by Goldman’s parents and the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson.

At the hearing, Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Alan B. Haber directed lawyers for Goldman, Simpson and Simpson’s accountant to confer on their dispute over how many of Simpson’s financial records must be turned over to the plaintiffs. Haber ordered the lawyers to report back to him Feb. 14.

On Dec. 19, Haber ruled that the plaintiffs’ attorneys could review Simpson’s financial records. But the defense has disagreed about just what has to be turned over.

David T. Stowell, attorney for Marvin Goodfriend, Simpson’s accountant, contends that his client does not have to provide some records that the plaintiffs are seeking because they are protected by the attorney-client privilege, the attorney work product doctrine and Simpson’s right to privacy.

Stowell concedes that Goldman is entitled to conduct discovery into Simpson’s current net worth “and any profit or income that Simpson may have gained by virtue of the deaths of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman.”

However, Stowell contends that “Goldman is not entitled to conduct an extensive, and irrelevant, fishing expedition into Simpson’s past finances” and he contends that most of the records that Goldman is seeking are irrelevant to the case or the issue of punitive damages, allegations vigorously contested by Goldman’s lawyers.

Goodfriend’s lawyers also asked Haber to appoint an independent auditor to verify Simpson’s current financial condition, a move that the judge indicated was premature.

On Wednesday, Haber said the plaintiffs had asked for more than they were entitled to, but quickly added that Goodfriend was offering less than the plaintiffs are entitled to.

Haber said that besides a statement of Simpson’s net worth, the plaintiffs clearly are entitled to backup documentation on a variety of things, such as the value of Simpson’s home, his bank accounts and his pension, among other things.

Peter Gelblum, one of Goldman’s attorneys, said that he expected Goodfriend’s attorneys to start turning over documents next week, but Stowell said after the hearing that he was not sure whether the records would be provided by the time Simpson’s deposition is scheduled to resume Feb. 19.

More than a dozen other individuals are supposed to be deposed before the trial’s scheduled April 2 start. Fred Goldman is supposed to be questioned by defense lawyers starting Friday. Petrocelli said that he has been unable to serve three people he would like to question--Simpson’s longtime friend A.C. Cowlings and Simpson’s two adult children, Jason and Arnelle.

Haber has signed papers paving the way for the plaintiffs to take an out-of-court deposition of Laura Hart McKinny, the North Carolina screenwriting professor whose tape-recorded interviews with former LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman revealed that Fuhrman did not tell the truth when he testified under oath that he had not used the word “nigger” in the past decade.