Browns’ Custody Request Denied; Judge Under Fire in Anaheim Case

An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday denied a request by the maternal grandparents of O.J. Simpson’s two youngest children to have the pair returned to their care while they appeal the court’s decision to award custody to the former football star.

And adding another twist to the ongoing Simpson legal saga, Judge Nancy Wieben Stock, who ruled against Louis and Juditha Brown, found herself under attack for her decisions in the Simpson custody case and an unrelated case involving an Anaheim woman suspected of killing her two children and her boyfriend this week before turning the gun on herself.

“Judge Nancy Wieben Stock has as much blood on her hands as does the woman who killed them,” Tammy Bruce, president of the Women’s Progress Alliance in Los Angeles, said as she announced plans to seek to recall Wieben Stock from office because of her rulings in the two custody cases.

Through her court clerk, Wieben Stock declined to comment on the threatened recall.

Attorneys for the Browns vowed Friday to press on with their appeal to regain custody of Sydney, 11, and Justin, 8.

The Browns believe that Simpson killed their daughter, Nicole Brown Simpson, even though he was acquitted of the slaying. They feel it would be harmful for the children to remain at their father’s home in Brentwood because of alleged instances of domestic abuse against Nicole Simpson, the children’s mother and Simpson’s ex-wife, attorneys said.

But Simpson attorney Bernard A. Leckie presented declarations in court from Simpson stating that the children were doing well and prefer to remain living with their father.

“The children are the main thing of his life,” Leckie said outside court. Simpson did not appear in court Friday.

Meanwhile, the father of the two Anaheim children said he was furious that the judge was still on the bench.

“She absolutely should be [recalled],” Jeffrey Kyle said.

Wieben Stock decided in 1991 to award Kyle and ex-wife Marcia Amsden-Kyle joint custody of their two children, even though the judge acknowledged Amsden-Kyle had emotional problems and was a risk to the children.

Times staff writer Esther Schrader contributed to this story.