O.J. Must Pay, Court Finds
L O S A N G E L E S, Jan. 26 -- A state appeals court has rejected O.J. Simpson's appeal of the $33.5 million civil court judgment against him for the killings of his ex-wife and her friend.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal issuedits ruling today after Simpson's attorney argued last month thatthe trial judge erred in rulings on evidence in denying a mistrialand because damages were excessive.
Simpson could pursue his appeal with a petition to theCalifornia Supreme Court. His attorney, Daniel Leonard, could notbe immediately reached by telephone.
A criminal court jury acquitted Simpson of murder charges in1995 for the slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.In 1997, a jury in a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Simpsonawarded the plaintiffs $8.5 million in compensatory damages and $25million in punitive damages.
Leonard had argued the jury was prejudiced by testimonySimpson failed a polygraph test and that his ex-wife called ashelter for battered women several days before she was killed inJune 1994.
Leonard also said the exclusion of testimony by former LosAngeles police detective Mark Fuhrman barred important evidence ofa police plan to frame Simpson for the killings.
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