Simpson’s Heisman Reappears

It’s back.

But where it’s been remains a mystery.

O.J. Simpson’s elusive Heisman Trophy--one of the biggest-ticket items missing from his Brentwood home when sheriff’s deputies seized some of his belongings to satisfy a civil judgment--was delivered Wednesday to the Beverly Hills courthouse by a member of the legal team representing Nicole Brown Simpson’s estate.

An employee of estate attorney Ira Friedman turned the trophy over to sheriff’s deputies who staff the courthouse about 10 a.m., a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Lawyers for the Brown family would not comment on the matter, other than to release a statement confirming that the Heisman “very recently came into the possession of one of the estate’s attorneys, who promptly turned it over to the sheriff.”

Attorneys for Fred Goldman, the father of murder victim Ronald Lyle Goldman, said the appearance of the trophy supports their contention that Simpson is improperly working with the Brown family to shield his assets from the Goldmans. Any money paid to satisfy the Browns’ judgment against Simpson ultimately goes to Simpson’s two children with Nicole, the beneficiaries of their mother’s estate.

“It basically again confirms that the Browns and Simpson are colluding to get a step ahead of Goldman, and that they’re trying to get everything for themselves,” said Goldman attorney Peter Csato.

A civil court jury in February found Simpson liable for the June 12, 1994, deaths of Ronald Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife and ordered him to pay $33.5 million in damages. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in a 1995 criminal trial.

In an attempt to begin collecting the civil court judgment, sheriff’s deputies in March seized a truck full of Simpson’s possessions, including 51 golf clubs and dozens of pieces of art, furniture, crystal and football memorabilia.

But numerous items were missing, including the Heisman Trophy that Simpson won as the top collegiate football player in 1968, his National Football League Hall of Fame ring, an Andy Warhol serigraph portrait of Simpson and several pieces of jewelry.

The Heisman, however, has been the most sought-after item, both for its assessed value of $400,000 and its personal worth to Simpson, who rose to national prominence while playing for USC.

Lawyers working to collect the debt against Simpson said last week that the $25,000 a month Simpson collects from his pension account might be untouchable by the Goldmans and the Browns, making the proceeds from the sale of Simpson’s possessions all the more important.

In court Monday, Beverly Hills Superior Court Judge Irving Shimer rejected Simpson’s attempts to shield many of those possessions by claiming they were ordinary, necessary personal property. But Shimer has yet to address the legitimacy of assets that Simpson has placed in a trust fund for his children.

In response to the growing public rift between the two grieving families, Shimer said Monday it was obvious to him that Simpson was attempting to favor the Browns.

“From Day 1, this was the most likely scenario, and it has come to fruition,” said Associate Dean Laurie Levenson of Loyola Law School. “The court can now see that unless it steps in, Simpson is most likely to just give [his assets] to the Brown estate to keep it all in the family, leaving the Goldmans out in the cold.”

In the wake of the civil judgment, Simpson claimed in papers filed with the court that some of his more valuable property, including “awards and trophies presented to Mr. O.J. Simpson,” are held in his children’s trust and therefore are not accessible to his creditors.

But in direct examination by the Goldmans’ attorneys last month, Simpson said he did not know where the trophy was, only that his home seemed to be “less congested” when he returned home from jail after his acquittal.

“Sounds like there’s been some game playing going on here, and I would think that the court would be quite concerned,” Levenson said. “You can lose a lot of credibility very quickly before the court with maneuvers like this.”

Levenson added that the trophy was bound to turn up sooner or later. “For it to have value it needs to be able to be sold or displayed,” she said. “People would ask where it’s been and who put it there.”

As for why the trophy turned up now, Levenson said the risks increased to whoever had it.

“I don’t know how it got there, but the court may very well ask some questions about it--if they’re hiding this asset, what else are they hiding?” she said.