Libertine: On the Prowl

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Simpson Book to be Published, After All

12:00, 2007-Aug-23 .. Posted in news .. 0 comments .. Link

It was recently announced that OJ Simpson's tell-all book manuscript, "If I Did It", which was scrapped before publication last year, will now be published, after all.

A federal judge last month gave the rights to the book to murder victim Ron Goldman's family, who are owed $33.5 million in damages by Simpson.

Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in criminal court, but was found liable for the deaths in a civil case brought by the victims' families. Simpson has vowed to never voluntarily pay damages to the families, and, to this date, the Goldman family has never received a penny of the money owed them.

The manuscript will be published exactly as Simpson wrote it, but with added commentary. Portions of the proceeds will be contributed to the Ron Goldman Foundation for Justice. Simpson will not receive any royalties from the book.

The Goldmans will be required to give a court-appointed trustee 10 percent of the first $4 million in gross proceeds and a percentage of all proceeds beyond that. Nicole Brown's family will get most of that money.

Some people I've talked about this to believe that it is wrong for the Goldmans to benefit in any way from this book; that it is crass and tasteless; that it will not bring back their son.

I'm of two minds on this. Yes, nothing will bring back their son, but it would seem as if this is the only justice the Goldmans are ever going to get. Simpson was acquitted of the murders in criminal court -- when I was in law enforcement, I saw people convicted on far less evidence than what was presented in his trial. So far as Simpson not paying the 33.5 million that he owes, he claims to be "bankrupt", despite a new home in Florida, his NFL pension, and that he apparently spends most of his time golfing and doesn't seem to need a job to support himself.

I don't intend to buy the book, but if some good can come from the proceeds that are donated to charity, then some justice, however small, will have been attained.

Thoughts?

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