O.J., Fred Goldman Together Again -- As Defendants

Posted by Matthew Heller

Can O.J. Simpson and Fred Goldman really be on the same side of a legal action? What might seem unthinkable has happened -- thanks to a Manhattan Beach, Calif., restaurant owner.

A federal bankruptcy judge awarded the rights to Simpson's book "If I Did It" to the Goldman family in July to help satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against the former football star. Now Amir Pourtemour claims the book plagiarizes two chapters of his self-published 1995 account of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, "Perfect Alibi: O.J. Simpson's Strategy of Murder." And his copyright infringement suit names both Simpson and Fred Goldman as defendants.

"[T]he strategy for 'murder' which is the principal thesis, theory, and syllogistic premise and conclusion of Plaintiff's copyrighted book has been lifted, intact, out of his book and placed into chapters six and seven of 'If I Did It,'" the complaint alleges. The defendants also include "If I Did It" publisher Beaufort Books, ghostwriter Pablo Fenjves and the gossip website TMZ.

We contacted Pourtemour, who says his book has sold 2,000 to 3,000 copies and he wrote it "to find out if [O.J.] really killed them and what really happened that night." Copies are still available at his Magic Skewers restaurant. Pourtemour's attorney is Greg Venturi of Santa Monica, who is also representing Marlon Brando's former caregiver in a fraud suit against the Brando estate.