Fred Goldman

The father of murder victim Ronald Goldman campaigned Thursday for a criminal justice reform initiative that allows non-unanimous jury verdicts, toughens parole rules and ends conjugal visits. "Something needs to be done about a system that is broken, badly broken," Fred Goldman told reporters at the Burbank Airport Hilton, the second stop on a four-city California swing to announce the petition drive. Ronald Lyle Goldman, 25, and O.J.

While O.J. Simpson wiled away another morning in a Nevada prison, a group of attorneys and former acquaintances gathered in a Santa Monica courtroom Monday to debate the rightful ownership of memorabilia, including the brownish-green suit Simpson is said to have worn at his 1995 acquittal. A onetime agent for the NFL star, Mike Gilbert, said at the hearing that he had the jacket, trousers and shirt in a storage unit near his home in Fresno. Gilbert says Simpson gave him the suit the morning after the acquittal, although Simpson's current lawyer says the garments are fakes.

Soon the silver Jeep with the RMBR RON license plates may vanish from this affluent community, along with the TV news vans that sometimes prowl its quiet streets. That is because Oak Park's most inadvertently famous residents--Fred and Patti Goldman--have put their house up for sale and are headed to Scottsdale, Ariz. "I guess we fall into the category of being empty nesters," said Fred Goldman, who was thrust into the spotlight when his son, Ron, was killed along with football legend O.J.

ONE of chemistry's fundamental laws governs "the conservation of mass," and it holds that matter can be neither created nor destroyed. Now, thanks to new media and the 24-hour news cycle, a certain class of story has come to share that material immortality. It's no longer quite possible, for example, to say how they first appeared in the media universe, and it's clear that -- however attenuated or grotesque their transformation -- they're simply going to live on forever.

Fred Goldman, brought to prominence by his media exposure during the O.J. Simpson criminal and civil trials, has agreed to host a prime-time special that could provide the basis for a weekly television series. The program, "Search for Justice With Fred Goldman," will air on the UPN network and will seek to spotlight wrongs perpetrated by the criminal and civil justice systems as well as efforts to effect change.

Arguing that jury misconduct, insufficient evidence and other irregularities prevented O.J. Simpson from receiving a fair trial, lawyers Tuesday filed motions seeking a new trial and asking Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki to reduce the $33.5 million in damages against the former football star.

In a groundswell of support, hundreds of Americans disgruntled with the Simpson verdicts have phoned or written Fred Goldman, father of murder victim Ronald Lyle Goldman, offering condolences, expertise and, perhaps most importantly, money for his wrongful-death lawsuit against O.J. Simpson. But the outpouring has remained unchanneled because Goldman has not yet made key decisions, such as whether to expand his legal team, according to his current lawyer.

On a shimmering, windy morning, relatives, friends and guests attended the unveiling of a granite gravestone for Ronald L. Goldman, who was slashed to death last June with Nicole Brown Simpson outside her Brentwood condominium. Jewish tradition holds that a grave site go unmarked until a year of mourning has passed. The unveiling of the gravestone signifies the end of the mourning period. Rabbi Gary E. Johnson of Temple Beth Haverim in Agoura Hills presided over the ceremony.

O.J. Simpson's book and TV deal might have been canceled, but Fred Goldman says his family is not letting up in its efforts to collect damages from the former football great. "We are never going to back off," Goldman tells Court TV in an interview airing tonight. "He's always gonna have to know that we're gonna be looking over his shoulder. Forever."* -- Greg Braxton

In response to Fred R. Lang's letter, Feb. 6: Fred Goldman's and Bill Cosby's situations are not the same. Goldman watched as the killer of his son drew sympathy and exoneration despite overwhelming physical evidence. Cosby has yet to even know who killed his son. Let's wait and see what his reaction would be if his son's killer is found and then set free by a jury more interested in trying everyone but the defendant. In response to Kevin Chun and his concerns, Simpson is not the only person to have been hit with a large civil penalty after getting off in the criminal proceedings.

Oprah Winfrey says she won't buy or read the O.J. Simpson book, "If I Did It," but she helped promote it Thursday by having the father and sister of Ronald Goldman on her TV talk show. Fred Goldman and his daughter, Kim, said that by seizing control of the book, they are punishing the man they believe murdered their loved one. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron.

Although their financial value is clouded with controversy, the literary rights to "If I Did It," O.J. Simpson's aborted book about how he might have killed his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, will be auctioned off April 17 by the Sheriff's Department in Sacramento County.

In a new attempt to get some of the estimated $40 million that O.J. Simpson owes them, the family of murder victim Ronald Lyle Goldman subpoenaed several Hollywood groups Monday to get information on money he may have received for TV and film appearances. The subpoenas demand records kept by the Screen Actors Guild, the Producers Guild of America and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

O.J. Simpson's book and TV deal might have been canceled, but Fred Goldman says his family is not letting up in its efforts to collect damages from the former football great. "We are never going to back off," Goldman tells Court TV in an interview airing tonight. "He's always gonna have to know that we're gonna be looking over his shoulder. Forever."* -- Greg Braxton

First, News Corp. canceled O.J. Simpson's book project, the much-reviled "If I Did It," which was purported to tell how the former football star could have killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Lyle Goldman. Then, weeks later Judith Regan, the publisher who orchestrated the book and accompanying television interview, was fired.

SWEAR TO DeMille, this is going to be the most frightening story that Hollywood has come across since the news burst upon El Mundo de Movies that a private eye named Tony Pellicano was supposedly eavesdropping on some quite glamorous and private telephones. Oh wait, hang on -- maybe the second most frightening story.

"You did a beautiful job. Please don't let this make you lose faith in our system. Please don't let this deter you from doing the job you are so qualified to do." --Chief prosecutor Marcia Clark, thanking her staff **** "We came here in search of justice. You'll have to be the judges. I'm not sure whether any of us found it." --Prosecutor Christopher A. Darden **** "But it was clear ... that this was an emotional trial. Apparently, their decision was based on emotion that overcame the reason."

Oprah Winfrey says she won't buy or read the O.J. Simpson book, "If I Did It," but she helped promote it Thursday by having the father and sister of Ronald Goldman on her TV talk show. Fred Goldman and his daughter, Kim, said that by seizing control of the book, they are punishing the man they believe murdered their loved one. Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend Ron.

It was April 1996 when Darrell Cabey became a multimillionaire--in theory. Cabey, paralyzed by a bullet from Bernhard Goetz, received a $43-million payday from a Bronx jury that found the subway gunman liable for the headline-making December 1984 shooting. But Cabey has yet to collect a penny, and his lawyer doesn't expect to see one soon. His civil case--like a rash of others recently--was more about the message than the money.