ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 11, 1997 TAG: 9702110106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, CALIF.
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE MOSTLY WHITE JURY said race had nothing to do with its verdict. One juror said it was ``one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make.''
A jury Monday heaped $25 million in punitive damages on O.J. Simpson for the slayings of his ex-wife and her friend, saddling him with more than twice the debt even his pursuers say he can pay.
The judgment is on top of $8.5 million in compensatory damages awarded last week when the jury repudiated Simpson's murder acquittal and found him liable in the 1994 slashing deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
``Finding O.J. Simpson liable of the murders and acting with oppression and malice was one of the easiest decisions I have ever had to make,'' said juror No.11, Laura Fast-Khazaee, a white woman in her 30s.
Juror No.266, a theater stage manager in her 40s, said she simply didn't believe Simpson's testimony.
As for Simpson's claim he was framed, juror No.186, a white man in his 20s, said: ``There's just no way anyone could have planted all that evidence. It doesn't make sense. There's no way.''
The mostly white jury, in contrast to the mostly black jury that acquitted Simpson of murder, said race had nothing to do with its decision.
``We went by all the evidence, and it had nothing to do with the color of Mr. Simpson's skin,'' said juror No.400, a white woman in her 60s.
``Anybody who comments on something like that, without knowing what we went through are being essentially a racist themselves,'' said the white man in his 20s.
Unlike the liability verdict, the decision on punitive damages was not unanimous. The only person with black ancestry on the jury, a Jamaican-born man who is half-Asian, cast the only vote against punitive damages. He was joined by one other juror who said she voted against the amounts because she thought they were a little high.
The only black in the jury box - an alternate who didn't participate in deliberations but did join the news conference - said she thought Simpson got a raw deal.
Simpson was not in court for the verdict and watched reports on TV in the snack bar of the golf course at Knollwood Country Club in Granada Hills, where he was eating a chili dog. He didn't appear to be watching closely, and the volume was low, said a bartender who refused to give her name. She said friends ribbed Simpson.
The courtroom was hushed and there were none of the outbursts that marked last week's verdict. Fred Goldman, the victim's father who had championed the civil court battle against Simpson, sat silently wiping his brow. His wife, Patti, and daughter, Kim, showed little emotion.
Nicole Simpson's estate, whose beneficiaries include her two children now living with Simpson, was allotted $12.5 million of the punitive damages. Goldman's father got another $12.5 million. His mother, Sharon Rufo, did not ask for punitive damages. The long-divorced parents will split the $8.5 million in compensatory damages for the loss of their son's love and companionship.
``The money is not the issue,'' Goldman said afterward, ``it's making certain that the man who murdered my son and Nicole is held responsible - that's happened.''
``This was for justice,'' said Kim Goldman. ``We always knew the truth would come out.''
It took the jury five hours over two days to arrive at the amount of the punishment. The jurors evidently ignored the defense portrayal of Simpson as a tapped-out pariah and sided with a plaintiffs' lawyer who urged jurors to ``Send a message: You can't kill two people and get away with it.''
The attorneys never asked for a specific amount in punitive damages but said it should be enough to hurt Simpson and to force the football great to relinquish his luxurious lifestyle. Pointing to his mansion with tennis court and pool, the Bentley he drives and his huge staff, they suggested he was a ``well-paid villain.''
The $33.5 million in total damages dwarfs the $15.7 million that plaintiffs estimated Simpson is worth, based on the predicted $3 million he stands to make every year for selling his name, likeness and trademark. The estimate is important because by law creditors can garnish up to 25 percent of future wages.
Under California law, any punitive award is supposed to bear some resemblance to the defendant's financial state: It's supposed to hurt him but not destroy him.
Before the plaintiffs can claim their money, the judge must decide whether the awards are reasonable, or inflated by irrational passions. He can pare them down if he chooses.
Simpson also could appeal, but that would not let him postpone payment.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart by AP.by CNB