Closing Arguments Due in Custody Trial

Closing arguments are expected today in the O.J. Simpson custody trial, which pits the football hall of famer against his former in-laws in determining where Simpson’s children Sydney, 11, and Justin, 8, will live.

The Family Court decision on whether the children will remain in Dana Point with their grandparents or move to Brentwood with their father will then be up to Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock. Attorneys said they could not predict when Stock might issue her decision.

Attorneys for grandparents Louis and Juditha Brown are expected to focus on allegations of domestic abuse involving Simpson and the late Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife and the children’s mother. They hope to show that living with their father would be detrimental to the children.

Though the children have been with the Browns for the last 2 1/2 years, it would be unusual for the grandparents to win custody, some legal experts said.

“I would be dumbfounded if custody went to anybody but Simpson,” said Michael A. Morris, a family law specialist in Orange.

“The fact that he maybe struck his wife, maybe traveled a lot and maybe isn’t home a lot isn’t enough to take custody away from a natural parent and give it to a grandparent.”

The children began living with the Browns in 1994 when Simpson was arrested on suspicion of killing his ex-wife and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman. Simpson was acquitted in October 1995.

“The Browns have to show the court by clear and convincing evidence that it would be a detriment to the children to be with their father,” Morris said. “Since he was found not guilty in the murder trial, I don’t think they could prove anything.”

But family law attorney Dan Boehm of Santa Ana said the Browns could argue that it would be detrimental for the children to leave Dana Point because of the bond they have formed with their grandparents.

“I could succeed in a guardianship based on that,” Boehm said.

In addition to attorneys for the Browns, two other attorneys are scheduled to make closing statements. Bernard A. Leckie, who represents Simpson, is expected to rebut any domestic abuse arguments made by Brown attorneys Natasha Roit and Eric L. Lagin.

Attorney Marjorie G. Fuller, appointed by the court to represent the children, also may make a statement. Fuller believes the children should be returned to Simpson and will likely argue that position today, sources said.