Simpson Remarks Stir Reaction

O.J. Simpson’s first interview since his acquittal on double murder charges may or may not sell his videos. But it already has given his current legal antagonists a new line of attack and representatives of women’s groups fresh fodder in their quarrel with the former football star.

Evidence of both results could be seen Thursday, the fourth day of Simpson’s deposition in the wrongful death lawsuits filed against him by the families and estates of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman. The interrogation, which now is expected to continue through next week, marks the first time that the Heisman Trophy winner has been compelled to answer questions concerning the murders under oath.

Simpson’s appearance Wednesday night on the Black Entertainment Television cable channel was arranged to promote the upcoming videotape on which the onetime actor gives his firsthand account of the events involving the deaths of his former wife and her friend.

However, it is unclear how many people heard Wednesday’s pitch. In the major cities where overnight ratings were available, the interview was watched in about 3 million households. That is 10 times the number of households that BET usually reaches at that time, but only about 7% of the potential audience.

Whatever its commercial impact, the interview has influenced the course of Simpson’s deposition in the wrongful death lawsuits.

As he left his lawyer’s West Los Angeles office at midafternoon Thursday, Goldman’s father, Fred, said, “I think we could probably describe today best as dramatically different than any other day. Things are going exceptionally well. It’s reaching a crescendo, and it’s getting tougher and tougher for him. It’s getting better for us.”

Goldman, who said he did not watch the telecast, responded to points that he had heard that Simpson raised in his hourlong interview.

At one point, Simpson said there was “a side of me that’s a little pissed at Fred Goldman and the Browns for” their failure to encourage further investigations into the murders. Goldman responded Thursday by saying, “Shall I be sarcastic and say, ‘That really bothers me and I’ll lose a lot of sleep?’ My son is gone. I don’t know what he’s pissed about.”

Goldman also took exception to Simpson’s assertion that he would be “happy” to see the lawsuits go to a jury on the basis of his incomplete deposition and that of his former girlfriend Paula Barbieri.

“I’d love to go to trial after four days,” the elder Goldman retorted.

Shortly before 1 p.m., Brown family attorney John Q. Kelly and one of Goldman’s lawyers, Edward Medvene, emerged from the deposition. Kelly was asked whether the interview’s fallout had altered the chemistry between Goldman and Simpson.

“After he made unpleasant comments about these families last night, there’s not much interaction,” the New York attorney responded. “There’s always tension in there. It’s not a friendly get-together.”

Later, Goldman’s lead lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, characterized Thursday’s interrogation as “a difficult process for everyone. This is not easy material to cover. We’re doing our best to get to the core of everything this man has to say.”

Petrocelli also said that he had “quite a ways to go” and that he could imagine the deposition taking a week further. Simpson’s lawyers have refused to comment on the course of his questioning.

Earlier in the day, much of the attention was focused on Simpson’s characterization of women in the interview and deposition.

For example, Kelly, the Brown family’s lawyer, said he sees “some sort of pattern emerging. First of all, Mr. Simpson seems to feel he’s been victimized by every woman who has had an abusive relationship in America.

“Second, the only prosecutor he ever mentions by name is Marcia Clark. Third, the only person he objects to having in the deposition room is Kim Goldman. Fourth, the person he seems to be directly attributing Nicole’s death to is Faye Resnick. Fifth, last night, he made a totally unsolicited, unresponsive comment that was very derogatory toward Denise Brown.”

During the interview, Simpson made a vague reference to Denise Brown’s “love affairs” and accused his ex-wife’s sisters of not being “true to the memory of Nicole,” charging that they have sold “unflattering pictures” of her to the tabloids.

That charge drew a sharp response from another Brown family attorney, Gloria Allred: “He has no evidence that Denise [Brown] is having affairs and if she is, it’s none of his business.”

Other women were dismayed by what seemed to them Simpson’s attempt to minimize the significance of the violence to which he subjected his then-wife before their separation.

Simpson, who has admitted that he once resorted to physical violence against his former wife, feels that he has been cast unfairly as a misogynist by “a certain group of women,” who, he said, have made him “their whipping boy.”

“I think he is in denial about the level of domestic violence in his relationship,” said Patricia Giggans, executive director of the nonprofit L.A. Commission on Assaults Against Women. “He continues to deny it. He described the 911 tape as an argument. That was not an argument. That was an intense situation. You could hear the fear in Nicole’s voice.”

Michael A. Brewer, a lawyer for Sharon Rufo, Goldman’s mother, said Simpson was questioned in detail Thursday about a New Year’s Day 1989 incident in which he beat his wife and was charged by authorities, as well as a November 1993 incident captured on a 911 tape.

“Those are obviously difficult subjects for him,” Brewer said. “We’re going through those incidents detail by detail. What he was doing, what he was thinking.”

* RELATED STORIES: F1