Lawyer in Simpson Custody Case Under Fire

Attorneys battling O.J. Simpson in his child custody case asked the judge Tuesday to dismiss the children’s appointed attorney, who has made clear that she thinks the children should live with their father.

The attorneys for Louis and Juditha Brown of Dana Point, who are fighting Simpson for custody of their grandchildren, asked the Superior Court judge to dismiss Marjorie G. Fuller, charging that she has not been fair in her evaluation of the case. Also, one of the children reportedly has asked that Fuller be dismissed.

Judge Nancy Wieben Stock’s decision is pending. Fuller could not be reached for comment.

The 3-week-old trial pits Simpson against the parents of his former wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, whom he was acquitted last year of killing. Closing arguments in the trial are expected to take place Thursday. It is not known how long the judge then will take to rule.

Simpson’s children, Sydney, 11, and Justin, 8, went to live with the Browns when the former football star was charged with murdering their mother and Ronald Lyle Goldman in June 1994. After he was acquitted in October 1995, Simpson asked to regain custody of the children, but the grandparents have refused, sparking the legal battle.

“This is very important to us,” Louis Brown said during a morning break in the closed proceedings, declining further comment.

According to several family law experts, the Browns face an uphill fight in their effort to retain custody of their grandchildren because the law favors the birth father. They must prove that the children would be harmed if they moved back to his Brentwood home.

At the custody trial in Family Court on Tuesday, Simpson chatted amiably with reporters and others during breaks about his golf game but little else. He would not answer any questions about the custody case.

He is simultaneously fighting a wrongful-death civil lawsuit in Santa Monica filed by the Nicole Brown Simpson estate and Goldman’s family.

The Browns reportedly had been hoping that the civil trial would end before the custody issue is decided, because if Simpson is found liable in the civil trial, it could be argued that he is an unfit parent.

Natasha Roit and Eric L. Lagin, the Browns’ attorneys, have tried to bring alleged instances of domestic violence. Stock, however, has refused to allow some incidents to be discussed in court, a source said.

Simpson took the stand during the first week of the custody trial to defend himself against the allegations, sources said.

Despite the tension of the two trials, the Brown family appeared upbeat outside court Tuesday. Juditha Brown and daughter Denise Brown had attended the trial in Santa Monica in the morning, then traveled to Orange for the afternoon session of the custody case. The Brown family hasn’t yet been called to testify in the custody case, but they are on the witness list.

* COWLINGS TESTIFIES

In civil trial, Al Cowlings contradicts Simpson’s testimony. A3