Simpson Seeks Damages Over Planned Miniseries

LOS ANGELES — A lawyer for O.J. Simpson, who failed to stop a planned TV miniseries about his criminal trial, was back in court Wednesday, seeking damages for what he said was a conspiracy to defraud Simpson of privileged information.

An attorney for Lawrence Schiller, whose book, “American Tragedy,” is the basis of the movie, suggested outside court that Simpson is trying an end run around the earlier ruling that allowed the two-part miniseries to go forward.

“They are trying to cause as much trouble as possible so that maybe it will not go forward,” attorney Gary Bostwick said.

In a legal brief, he said the lawsuit is “a transparent attempt by plaintiff O.J. Simpson to silence his critics and to stifle public debate about his criminal trial.”

Earlier this month, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe refused to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the miniseries, which has a working title the same as the book. He said he was unconvinced that the broadcast of “American Tragedy” would harm Simpson because most of the material appeared in the 1996 best-selling book on which it is based.

Simpson did not file suit when the book was published.

Attorney Terry Gross, who represents Simpson, said his client is now seeking millions in damages from Schiller and Robert Kardashian, the lawyer who provided inside information on the defense team for Schiller’s book.

Simpson, who lives in Florida, claims in the suit that Schiller and Kardashian violated privacy contracts and published confidential attorney-client material.

The series has completed filming and is scheduled for broadcast Nov. 12 and Nov. 15.