O.J. Appeal Rejected

S A N  F R A N C I S C O, April 25 -- O.J. Simpson lost a major legal battletoday when the California Supreme Court declined to review acivil jury's finding that the former football star was liable forthe deaths of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend RonaldGoldman.

The high court's decision also upholds the same jury's $33.5million judgment against Simpson and perhaps closes the finalchapter on one of the nation's most celebrated murder cases.

Charged in criminal court with murdering his ex-wife and Goldmanin 1994, Simpson was acquitted by a Los Angeles jury. He then wassued in civil court for wrongful death by the victims' survivors,and was found liable for the killings and ordered to pay $33.5million in damages.

Simpson, who has said he can't afford to pay the damages, askedthe California Supreme Court to reverse the judgment, writing thatthe civil case was "built on top of a failed prosecution, aprosecution which was suspect for corruption, fraud, contamination,coercion and collusion."

None of the high court's justices voted to review Simpson'sappeal.

More Payments Unlikely

To be held criminally liable in California, a jury had to findSimpson guilty of murder "beyond a reasonable doubt," which itdid not. In the civil trial, a different jury had to agree to alesser standard, that Simpson was liable for the deaths by a"preponderance of the evidence." To award damages, that samecivil jury had to find liability by "clear and convincingevidence."

Attorneys for the victims' families urged the justices in courtpapers not to consider Simpson's appeal, saying the civil juryfound clear and convincing evidence that "Simpson murdered RonaldGoldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

Edward Horowitz, the Los Angeles lawyer representing LouisBrown, Nicole's father, said today that Simpson has paid "acouple hundred thousand" from the judgment though the sale offurnishings and his Heisman Trophy but doesn't think the familieswill collect much more.