Well, you have now finally determined responsibility for the deaths of Ron and Nicole. And you have concluded that the defendant, Orenthal Simpson, is the man who took their lives away on June 12, 1994. You have concluded and determined that he acted with malice and he acted with oppression when he savagely attacked and killed Ron and Nicole. He did so by clear and convincing evidence. You have concluded that Mr. Simpson must pay compensatory damages to compensate Ron's parents, my client Fred Goldman, and Ronald's mother, Sharon Rufo, for the loss Mr. Simpson caused them by taking away their son forever. Now, you have one final duty to perform before you are all discharged from your seats on this historic jury, before you can get on with the rest of your lives that you all put on hold to do your duty as jurors. And that, as the judge has just said, is to decide whether and how much Mr. Simpson should be punished by paying an award of punitive damages; punitive damages to the estate of Ronald Goldman, and the estate of Nicole Brown Simpson, for the benefit of their heirs. Ronald's heirs are, again, Mr. Goldman and Ronald's mother, Sharon Rufo. Nicole's heirs are her two small children; Sydney and Justin. We are, as you all have come to learn, in a civil courtroom, in a civil case. We are not dealing with the criminal prosecution.
I would object, Your Honor. This is not an indication of what he is attempting to prove in this case -- of the case, it's more of a final argument.
We don't have the power or liberty to take away a person's freedom or liberty when he violates the rights of another person. All we can do in this courtroom -- all we can do is pay them money. That's all we can do. There's no power to do anything else. And, of course, here, we're not just talking about any violation with you, but we are talking about the most unconscionable violation.
We're talking about whether Mr. Simpson should pay and how much he should pay for taking the life -- taking the lives of two people. Now, under California law, ladies and gentlemen, when we talk about punitive damages, whether they should be awarded and how much, we are required to give you information about the defendant's financial condition. And the reason is simple: It takes a lot less to punish a poor man than it does a rich man. The law says we have to know something about the defendant's financial condition to determine the appropriate measurement of financial punishment. Do we know everything and can we know everything? We will not be able to tell you that in any kind of detail. Whatever we were able to get from the defendant we will present to you to try to give you some idea, some picture of this man's worth and his wealth, so that you can decide what is appropriate by way of punishment. Why do we have something called punitive damages; is it just to punish? No, it's also to make an example; make sure something like this never happens again. That is something that you will have to take into account after you hear some of this testimony. I will then come back, talk to you again, and discuss with you some of the evidence that we heard, and talk to you about why I believe in this case severe punitive damages are necessary to punish Mr. Simpson for what he did on June 12. Now, Mr. Gelblum is going to present the witnesses. We have two witnesses. And then Mr. Baker may present some witnesses. We will present evidence that Mr. Simpson has a lot of money, in the neighborhood of many millions of dollars. Mr. Simpson will present some witnesses to say that he is broke. And you will have to determine who is telling the truth. Thank you.
OPENING STATEMENT
All we can do in this courtroom -- all we can do is pay them money. That's all we can do. There's no power to do anything else.
It takes a lot less to punish a poor man than it does a rich man.
We will present evidence that Mr. Simpson has a lot of money, in the neighborhood of many millions of dollars. Mr. Simpson will present some witnesses to say that he is broke. And you will have to determine who is telling the truth.
Nicole's heirs are her two small children; Sydney and Justin.