JURORS in the O.J. Simpson civil trial ended their first full day of deliberations yesterday to decide if the former football star was responsible for the murders of his exwife and her friend in June, 1994.
A court spokeswoman said the seven women and five men on the panel formally began their deliberations at 8.35 a.m. (4.35 p.m. Irish time). They deliberated until 4.30 p.m. local time, with a 90 minute break for lunch.
The jury deliberated for about two hours on Tuesday after receiving instructions from Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki, who told them to ignore the fact that Mr Simpson was cleared of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman by a criminal court jury in 1995.
The jurors were also directed to disregard the recent ruling of a family court giving Mr Simpson custody of his two children by his ex wife, Sydney and Justin, who had been living with Nicole Brown Simpson's parents.
Mr Simpson is contesting a civil lawsuit brought by the families of the victims who are seeking substantial damages for the loss of their loved ones.
The jury in Mr Simpson's criminal trial took just four hours to find him not guilty of the murders.
A verdict in the civil trial is reached when nine out of 12 jurors agree on eight legal points of the case. If they cannot agree, a new trial can be called.
Mr Simpson could face hefty fines if found liable but cannot be sentenced to prison. If he is found responsible, the jury will decide how much he must pay Mr Goldman's parents to compensate them for their loss.
In a second stage of the trial, the jury could set much higher punitive damages to be paid to the two families. To assess the punitive damages, new witnesses would be called to testify on Mr Simpson's financial worth.
On Tuesday, the families' lawyers asked Judge Fujisaki to order Mr Simpson to turnover his financial records. A hearing on this request was scheduled for yesterday.