Simpson May Face Third Trial

O.J. Simpson may face what amounts to a third murder trial if he wants to keep custody of his two young children.

The 4th District Court of Appeal on Tuesday reversed a decision that granted Simpson custody of Sydney, 13, and Justin, 10, and ordered a new hearing that must weigh whether Simpson has a propensity to violence.

The court criticized Superior Court Judge Nancy Wieben Stock for granting custody in 1996 without considering evidence that Simpson may have killed the children's mother, Nicole Brown Simpson.

At the time of Wieben Stock's decision, Simpson had been found innocent in a criminal trial, and a civil case that ultimately found him liable for killing his ex-wife and her friend Ronald Goldman was still being heard.

That didn't matter, the appeals court said.

"As a matter of case law, as well as common sense, the question of whether one parent has actually murdered the other is about as relevant as it is possible to imagine," the judges wrote in a 3-0 ruling.

The appeals court acted on a petition by Ms. Simpson's parents, Louis and Juditha Brown. They had custody of the children while Simpson was on trial for the 1994 slashing murders of his ex-wife and her friend. After he was acquitted in 1995, the Browns lost their bid to gain permanent custody.

Last year, a civil court jury ordered Simpson to pay $33.5 million in damages to the Browns and the Goldmans, who had sued him for the deaths. The money has not been collected.

The justices ordered the custody case to be reheard by Orange County Court Commissioner Thomas H. Schulte, who originally began the hearings in September 1996. He was replaced in October 1996 by Wieben Stock, who ruled in Simpson's favor and later survived a recall attempt. No reason was ever given for the change of judges, the appeals court noted.

Stock should have waited to make her ruling until the civil trial concluded, the court said, though the delay was seen then as potentially damaging to the children's welfare.

The appeals court also said Stock did not give proper weight to evidence of domestic abuse in the Simpson marriage.

Natasha Roit, attorney for the Brown family. (CBS)

"They will have the ammunition that they didn't have before, which is to make the arguments that it's not in the best interest of the children to be with a man who a civil jury has determined killed their mother. Also, there is certainly evidence from Nicole Brown Simpson's diaries that talk about alleged abuse in he relationship with her husband," Jeannette-Meyers says.

Simpson told The Associated Press he thought the ruling represented a backlash against him.

"The bottom line is there are people out there who think their opinion of me is going to supersede the well-being of my kids," said Simpson, who continues to maintain his innocence. "And my only interest is the well-being of my kids."

The children's attorney, Marjorie Fuller, said they are "very disappointed" with the ruling. In August, Sydney and Justin wrote the justices an emotional letter asking to stay with their father.

Simpson said he will fight to keep the children in his custody where he said they are "incredibly well adjusted and happy."

Fuller said the children would probably stay with their father until appeals are exhausted. Either she or Simpson may request a hearing within 30 days or appeal directly to the state Supreme Court.

The justices ordered the lower court to consider any propensity to violence by Simpson, the possible effect of taking the children from him, and the children's own views. Sydney and Justin would probably be called to testify in a private setting.

Natasha Roit, the Browns' attorney, told CBS News that Stock should have considered the murder and domestic violence factors of the case. She said the recent court decision found "at least four legal errors made by the judge and they reversed it on all four grounds."

Roit said any one of the grounds would have been sufficient to reverse Stock's decision.

According to Roit, the judges also indicated that the Brown family's attorneys were not responsible for proving that Simpson is unfit to hold custody of his children.

"He has to come to court and prove he's fit as a parent. Certainly the evidence of murder the evidence of other domestic violence is going to come in. It's going to be difficult for Mr. Simpson to maintain custody of the children," Roit said.