Lawyer to Help Browns Appeal Custody Ruling

Kimberly Knill, a local attorney with her own private practice, will help handle the appeals case for Louis and Juditha Brown in their fight for custody of O.J. Simpson’s children.

Knill said she learned that the Browns needed an appellate attorney through a newspaper article and, like the attorneys who represented the Browns during the custody trial, does not propose to charge the Browns for her work.

“I feel for the Browns,” said Knill, 33. “They’ve spent the last 2 1/2 years going through the rigors of our justice system, and they’re still in it.”

In December, Orange County Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock ruled against the Browns and granted Simpson custody of his children--Sydney, 11, and Justin, 8.

The two children had been living with the Browns in Dana Point since 1994, when Simpson was charged with murdering Nicole Brown Simpson, his ex-wife and the children’s mother, and her friend, Ronald Lyle Goldman.

Knill said she expects to file a notice of appeal within the next month.

On Jan. 31, she is scheduled to appear before Wieben Stock to ask the judge to stay her Dec. 20 custody ruling and send the children back to the Browns pending the appeal.

Knill said she had not yet seen the thousands of pages of court transcripts from the custody trial, and could not specify on what grounds she would appeal the decision.

But she expected to focus on any rulings against the Browns that Wieben Stock had made during the trial.

Natasha Roit, who represented the Browns during the custody trial, has said in past interviews that the Browns’ appeal would be based in part on the alleged bias of the children’s court-appointed attorney, who recommended that the children be returned to Simpson.

Knill will work with the Los Angeles-based Roit, who brought Knill onto the case.

Roit could not be reached for comment Tuesday, and a number of Orange County appellate and family law attorneys said they were unfamiliar with Knill’s work.

Knill said she has done appellate work on criminal, civil and custody cases, and contacted Roit about taking the case only after careful consideration.

“I didn’t want to rush after a high-profile case,” she said. “It’s a lot of time, and it’s not paid.”