O.J. Simpson must hand over a Rolex watch and other assets to satisfy a civil judgment that found him liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Any future royalties from a sports video game featuring Simpson also must be delivered to Goldman’s father, Fred Goldman, Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled.
Simpson must also surrender any of the disputed memorabilia items recently seized by Las Vegas authorities that are found to be legally his.
The items would then be auctioned by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the money they bring in given to Goldman. His attorney David Cook estimated the watch’s value between $5,000 and more than $20,000.
Simpson attorney Ronald Slates said his client had already handed the watch over to him and he planned to give it to Goldman’s lawyers Tuesday afternoon. He questioned, however, whether it’s a real Rolex.
“Know any Rolex watches that sell for 125 bucks?” he asked, adding that’s what Simpson told him he paid for it. The lawyer acknowledged, however, that if it is fake, “it’s a pretty good copy.”
The court order specifies a “Submariner Rolex Watch” that was identified in a photograph.
Disputed memorabilia items
Slates said Simpson can’t hand over the memorabilia that Las Vegas police seized when they arrested him on robbery, kidnapping and other charges last month because those items aren’t in his possession.
Cook agreed that was true but said the judge’s order requires that if Simpson ever does acquire the items he says are his he must turn them over. They include footballs, jerseys and other things the former football star says were stolen from him.
Slate said he doesn’t represent the company that was paid for marketing the video game Simpson appears in but, in any case, he isn’t sure there will ever be any future royalty payments.
In 1995, Simpson was acquitted in a criminal trial of charges that he murdered his ex-wife and Ron Goldman. The 1997 civil judgment resulted from the trial of a lawsuit against Simpson.