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Other related litigation
The civil and criminal trials of Simpson were not the only important legal cases
that were spawned by the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on
June 12, 1994.
Gerald Chamales and his wife, Kathleen, bought a house next to Simpson's estate
in Brentwood at the corner of Ashford and Rockingham just ten days before the
murders of which Simpson was accused. The media circus and hordes of curious
tourists tormented them (and the rest of Simpson's neighbors) for the next four
years. Their subsequent legal battle with the IRS culminated in the rule that
they could not apply the drop in their house's value as a casualty loss
deduction on their income tax return, because it was only temporary.
Simpson's house guest on the night of the murders, Brian "Kato" Kaelin, sued
Globe Communications for $15 million after it ran a headline in one of its
tabloid newspapers insinuating that Kaelin was the real murderer. The district
court granted summary judgment to the defendant, but on appeal, Kaelin convinced
the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit that he had a valid claim for
defamation. Kaelin settled his lawsuit for an undisclosed amount.
A New Hampshire intellectual property attorney, William B. Ritchie, challenged
the validity of Simpson's trademarks under a federal statute that bars immoral,
deceptive, or scandalous subject matter. Ritchie argued that because of the
whole sequence of events from 1994 through 1997, Simpson's very name had become
immoral and scandalous and thus could not be protected as a trademark. Ritchie
convinced the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that he had standing to
challenge Simpson's trademarks under the Lanham Act. Simpson has since abandoned
his trademarks.
On September 5, 2006, Ron Goldman's father took Simpson back to court to obtain
control over his "right to publicity" for purposes of satisfying the judgment in
the civil court case. On January 4, 2007 a federal judge issued a restraining
order prohibiting Simpson from spending any advance he may have received on a
canceled TV and book deal. The matter was dismissed before trial for lack of
jurisdiction. On January 19, 2007 a California state judge issued an additional
restraining order, ordering Simpson to restrict his spending to "ordinary and
necessary living expenses".
On March 13, 2007 a judge prevented Simpson from receiving any further
compensation from a canceled book deal and TV interview. He ordered the bundled
book rights to be auctioned.
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