Nicole Brown’s Therapist Gives Deposition in Civil Suit

A psychotherapist who said she treated Nicole Brown Simpson in the weeks before her murder testified under oath this week that her patient talked of fearing O.J. Simpson and described beatings she suffered at his hands, according to a lawyer who attended the deposition.

Therapist Jennifer Ameli said that just three days before the murder, Nicole Simpson told her about a recent argument and physical altercation she had with her ex-husband over tax issues. Ameli added that “Nicole expressed great fear of O.J.,” according to attorney Daniel M. Petrocelli, who is pressing a wrongful-death suit against Simpson on behalf of murder victim Ronald L. Goldman.

Ameli’s credibility was challenged earlier this year after information about her therapy sessions with Nicole Simpson and Goldman turned up on the Geraldo Rivera talk show and in the National Enquirer tabloid. Ameli has complained that she lost some files, including information on Goldman, in an office burglary three months after the murders.

She did not testify in the criminal case.

Pretrial depositions will take to the road next week, as lawyers travel to Chicago to interview witnesses who saw O.J. Simpson hours after the murders. They also will question Kansas City Chiefs football player Marcus Allen, alleged to have been carrying on an affair with Nicole Simpson.