SIZE OF DAMAGES RAISES LEGAL EYEBROWS : THE PUNITIVE PHASE.

Byline: Anne Burke Daily News Staff Writer

The jury's $8.5 million judgment against O.J. Simpson was a whopper that Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki may choose to lower, legal analysts said Wednesday.

Fujisaki may decide that the compensatory damages awarded by a Santa Monica jury Tuesday are excessive and were based on things the panel wasn't supposed to consider - the suffering of Ronald Goldman's family and the heinousness of the killings.

``(The) $8.5 million is off the charts,'' said civil attorney Cynthia McClain-Hill. ``(Fujisaki) has the power and some may believe he has the obligation to reduce the judgment. What's on trial here is not just O.J. Simpson, but our judicial system and its ability to mete out justice and fairness.''

``Anybody who handles tort claims would agree this was a very generous award. Whether it will stand scrutiny from Judge Fujisaki in the first instance and then later by a court of appeal'' remains to be seen, said Charles J. Mazursky, former president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.

Compensatory damages are designed to pay a loved one for the loss of society, comfort and companionship. A multimillion-dollar judgment might occur when young children lose a high-income parent, but usually not when a parent loses an emancipated adult child, attorneys said.

The $8.5 million was awarded to Ronald Goldman's father, Fred, and mother, Sharon Rufo.

In the killing of Nicole Brown Simpson, there were no compensatory damages. The Browns instead filed a survivorship claim to avoid putting the children in the position of suing their father. Such a suit does not permit compensatory damages.

The size of the judgment suggests that jurors wanted to send Simpson a strong message about the brutality of the killings. It also may signal that his denials about beating his wife and wearing Bruno Magli shoes did not sit well with panel members.

If that's the case, jurors may have been confused about their job, legal experts said.

Compensatory damages are not supposed to punish. That's what punitive damages are for, but that was not made clear to jurors when they were sent into the deliberations room.

The punitive phase starts today in the same courtroom. The plaintiffs are expected to put on the witness stand a forensic accountant and a marketing expert to talk about Simpson's current wealth and his potential earnings from his name and likeness.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Peter Gelblum said in a brief court hearing Wednesday outside the jury's presence that the defense lawyers have put Simpson's net worth at $500,000.

The plaintiffs believe the former actor, football star and corporate pitchman is worth a lot more. Published reports have put his wealth at $3 million and more.

While his Rockingham Avenue estate is heavily encumbered, Simpson has a lot of money in retirement and pension funds set up during the 1980s. Such funds generally are exempt from creditor claims, but if Simpson borrows early on them, that money would be within reach of the plaintiffs, according to Richard Brunette Jr., a business bankruptcy specialist.

The defense is expected to tell jurors at the punitive phase that Simpson's financial future is bleak, and that he won't be able to come up with the $8.5 million, much less another huge judgment.

``I'm sure Bob Baker will say, `You've already assessed a multimillion dollar award against my client, how much more will you punish him?' '' Mazursky said.

Whatever the jury's decision about punitive damages, defense lawyers will appeal to the judge to lower the compensatory award.

They could claim the jury was moved by the suffering of Fred Goldman and his daughter, Kim, or that they were angry at Simpson because they thought he lied.

``Fujisaki was sitting there the whole time. He can really determine, `Is this a fair amount, or is it inflamed because of passion and outrage?' '' said Wayne McClean, a Woodland Hills lawyer and former president of the Consumer Attorneys of California.

Fred Goldman said Tuesday night that all he wanted was justice for his son, Ronald, and Nicole Simpson. That may be all he'll get, for a while, anyway.

Simpson is bound to appeal. He has some good issues having to do with Fujisaki's admittance of testimony about a polygraph test and a call to a domestic abuse center.

To do that, Simpson would have to post a bond of 150 percent of the value of compensatory and punitive damages. That wouldn't be easy to do because a bonding company likely would require 100 percent collateral, Brunette said.

Jurors will return to court today to hear testimony about O.J. Simpson's personal finances.

The panel that found Simpson liable in the killings, and which awarded the Goldman family $8.5 million in compensatory damages, must decide whether he should be punished further.

In awarding punitive damages, jurors must consider how reprehensibly Simpson acted, whether the damage awards ``bear a reasonable relation'' to the nature of the killings and how much the award would hurt Simpson financially.

California law sets no limits on punitive awards.

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Box: The punitive phase (see text)