O J Simpson's lawyer upset about book deal

LOS ANGELES, Nov 20: Add O J Simpson's lawyer to the long list of people upset the former football star has written an account about how he would have killed his ex-wife and her friend, even if a jury decided he did not.

The latest issue of Newsweek quotes Yale Galanter as saying he's ''pissed'' about Simpson's deal for the upcoming book ''If I Did It,'' adding, ''I definitely would not have approved this ... I wouldn't have done it for a gazillion dollars.'' Simpson's book deal was such a closely guarded secret that Galanter had no idea about it before the news broke last week, he told the magazine. He said Simpson's four grown children -- two from a previous marriage, and two he had with Nicole Brown Simpson -- approved of the deal.

Simpson was accused of the June 1994 stabbing deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. After a lengthy televised trial that transfixed the nation, he was acquitted the following year. But he was later found liable in a civil trial and ordered to pay 33.5 million dollars in damages to the victims' families. Little of that money has ever been collected.

Galanter told Newsweek that only one of the seven chapters deals with the murder, and nowhere does Simpson admit to killing anyone.

The book will be published on November 30 through ReganBooks, a division of HarperCollins. The Fox broadcast network plans to air a two-part interview with Simpson, conducted by ReganBooks principal Judith Regan, on November 27 and 29. HarperCollins and Fox are both owned by News Corp.

The book deal and TV interview drew a firestorm of criticism from members of the publishing community as well as media commentators and relatives of the victims. Lawyers for Ron Goldman's father, Fred Goldman, have said they plan to seize any money Simpson is being paid. Regan said she had hoped Simpson would confess to the killings.

While no financial details of Simpson's publishing arrangement were disclosed, unconfirmed media reports put the value of the deal at about 3.5 million dollars.

REUTERS