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Saturday, November 19, 2005

More Simpson Comments on Blake's Civil Trial

The jury awarded $30 million in the civil lawsuit against 72 year-old former television actor, Robert Blake, to the family of his murdered wife Bonnie Lee Bakley. Blake has said he is broke and owes money to the Internal Revenue Service. An attempt was made before the civil trial to settle the case out of court for $250 thousand, the amount Blake says is left from his once large fortune. Bakley's family rejected the offer.

O.J.Simpson, former grid-iron star at the University of Southern California and in the NFL, was acquitted of the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, then was sued in civil court by their families where a jury found him liable for their deaths. Because he did not follow either trial closely, the former rental car company spokesman says he has no opinion about Blake's guilt or innocence in the murder of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley. The families of Brown-Simpson and Goldman were awarded damages of $33.5 million. Simpson said the damage awards in both cases, (his and Blake's) are suspiciously similar.

Simpson said he and Blake were subjected to an unfair system in which a civil jury can essentially reverse a criminal jury's finding by using a lesser standard of proof in which jurors need be convinced only by "a preponderance of the evidence," meaning at least 51 percent.

O.J. Simpson also states he hopes someone eventually will go the before the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the system that permits double trials. "I'd love to see the Supreme Court rule on one of these cases," he said. He notes a defendant must have the money to post a bond in order to appeal the judgment, something usually beyond their financial ability.

Simpson offers this advice to Blake: "If Robert Blake has friends and family around him, he'll do fine. I would give him the same advice I gave Michael (Jackson) . You've got your kid. Go and raise your kid."

Finally he added, *"To me, the thing that's most disturbing is to watch these lawyers grand standing. It's all for TV and for the book deals. I predict they will make a book deal. They did it in my case."

*Our staff has a suggestion on how to get over being disturbed about the way the lawyers behave. SEE "New TV Program Idea" post

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