Simpson Gets 'Rolex' Back Because It's a Knockoff

Oct 06, 09:59 AM

Current Headlines: By The Associated Press

O.J. Simpson is getting his fake Rolex watch back.

The timepiece, seized earlier this week by attorneys for Fred Goldman, was ordered returned to the former football star after it was determined to be a knockoff made in China.

Although Goldman has won a multimillion-dollar wrongful death judgment against Simpson, the watch has so little value it falls under an exemption excluding jewelry worth less than $6,075.

"While we are clearly disappointed with the outcome, this tells us that collecting on this judgment, against this guy, is really tough," Goldman lawyer David Cook said after Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg ruled Friday that he must return the watch.

Cook had hoped it might be worth as much as $22,000, but an appraisal from San Francisco jeweler Shreve & Co. concluded it was worth only about $100. Simpson had told his lawyer, Ronald Slates, he paid $125 for it.

Cook told Rosenberg he had a buyer willing to pay as much as $10,000 for the watch because it was Simpson's. But Slates argued that didn't mean Simpson was obligated to let Cook sell his watch, and the judge agreed.

"We don't want to create a precedent where they can do that and we're forever faced with it," Slates said.

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