Simpson Moves To Block Miniseries

O.J. Simpson is suing one of his former lawyers as part of an attempt to block an upcoming CBS miniseries about his trial.

Simpson has asked for a court order barring use of allegedly privileged information gleaned from his criminal defense team in the network's version of author Lawrence Schiller's American Tragedy.

According to a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Schiller and attorney Robert Kardashian, a member of Simpson's defense team, breached an agreement not to use privileged information in a book about the trial and to give Simpson a chance to review the book before it was published.

Simpson chose not to sue at the time the book was about to be published, because at the time, he was involved in a civil trial over the deaths of his former wife Nicole and waiter Ron Goldman and "did not have the time or money to institute a lawsuit" to stop publication of the book, according to the new suit.

When the book was published, it contained substantial confidential information known only to Simpson's criminal lawyers, the suit says.

Simpson's complaint claims "Schiller insinuated himself into a position of trust and confidence with Simpson, with the explicit but undisclosed intent to exploit the relationship."

Barry Levinson, Schiller and Tom Fontana are producing American Tragedy; Schiller is directing. Ving Rhames, Ron Silver, Christopher Plummer and Bruno Kirby star.

Written by Josef Adalian for Daily Variety