Simpson Accused of Diverting Income to Avoid Paying Judgment

O.J. Simpson has been diverting income from sports memorabilia to avoid paying the $33.5-million wrongful-death judgment to the families of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson, a Goldman family attorney said Thursday.

In a closed-door court session in Hanford, Calif., a town near Fresno, Goldman lawyer Gary Caris questioned sports agent Mike Gilbert on his dealings in recent months with Simpson, one of Gilbert’s clients.

Gilbert had admitted taking the former football star’s Heisman Trophy and other plaques from his Brentwood estate as payment for money Simpson owed him. Gilbert later turned the items over to authorities, except for the nameplate from the Heisman Trophy.

The hearing in Kings County Superior Court was ordered to demand return of the nameplate, but Caris told reporters he spent much of the day asking about Simpson’s income.

Caris said the trophy with the nameplate attached could be worth as much as $500,000. He did not speculate how much the trophy is worth without the nameplate.

An arrest warrant was issued by Judge Peter M. Schultz on Monday when Gilbert failed to show up in court, but was stayed until Thursday to see if Gilbert showed up.

Gilbert said he was on a business trip in New York. Caris said Simpson was with Gilbert.

“Both Mr. Simpson and Mr. Gilbert had a variety of business meetings, [including] potential future work for Mr. Simpson in card shows and a variety of other items,” Caris said.

Simpson has made about $15,000 from selling sports memorabilia in recent months, Caris said. But the new income did not go to Simpson, the lawyer added.

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“It’s going to Eunice Simpson, his mother,” Caris said. “We’ve seen it throughout the case with respect to automobiles, pianos and personal property transferred to trusts with children. It’s just more of the same.”

Simpson’s lawyers have said repeatedly that their client is not shielding assets. Two months ago, the lawyers note, a judge agreed that a $20,000 grand piano housed at Simpson’s estate was his mother’s, not Simpson’s. The Goldman family’s lawyers had argued that Simpson was the real owner and was trying to mislead the court. As for the nameplate, Caris said Thursday he planned to ask Gilbert about it later. Gilbert has said he would not turn it over, even if it means going to jail.

“This is a man who has generated a lot of income for himself and for Mr. Simpson and I think we know where his loyalties lie,” Caris said of Gilbert. “It’s not with my client.”

Both Gilbert and his lawyer, Michael Noland, refused to comment Thursday.

Attorneys for the families of Ronald Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, are trying to collect on the $33.5-million civil trial judgment. Simpson was acquitted of criminal charges stemming from the stabbing deaths of Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife.