LOS ANGELES – O.J. Simpson must give any money a Florida lawyer is holding for him to the family of slaying victim Ronald Goldman to satisfy a multimillion-dollar wrongful death judgment, a judge has ruled.
Attorney Leonardo D. Starke is believed to be holding about $3,500 for Simpson in a client trust account in Florida, where the former football star now lives, Goldman attorney David Cook said Wednesday.
The amount is small but the court ruling could have broader implications for the Goldman family, which has tried for a decade to collect on a $33.5-million judgment against Simpson. Virtually none of the money has been collected, and the family has accused Simpson of trying to conceal his income.
"It is a shot over the bow," Cooke said. "It's significant that we're reaching money over state lines, and it's a significant message to Mr. Simpson that we will find every asset there is."
A call left for Simpson's California-based attorney, Ronald P. Slates, was not immediately returned Wednesday. A message left for Starke also was not immediately returned. His office said Starke was out of town.
Simpson has maintained his innocence since his 1995 acquittal of the slayings of ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Goldman's family has also been pursuing money from Simpson's canceled book, "If I Did It."
The book, in which Simpson explains how he might have committed the killings, was never released because of public outrage.
A Los Angeles judge ordered the book rights to be auctioned off, with proceeds from the auction and any subsequent book profits turned over to Goldman's family. However, the auction was put off after the company that struck the book deal filed for bankruptcy last month in Florida.
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