County’s Costs in Simpson Trial Reach $7.1 Million, Official Says

Los Angeles County spent more than $7.1 million on the O.J. Simpson double murder case through July 31, including $2.1 million in jury sequestration expenses, according to figures released Monday.

Trial-related expenses in July totaled $651,225, but actual expenses for the month were higher because no updated figure for the court’s jury sequestration expenses was available, Supervisor Mike Antonovich said.

The single largest component of the county’s Simpson case costs has been $3.3 million in prosecutorial and investigative expenses by the district attorney’s office, according to Antonovich.

The Sheriff’s Department has spent $2.4 million for courtroom and jury security, jailing Simpson and transporting him between the Men’s Central Jail and the Criminal Courts Building.

The Superior and Municipal courts have spent $1.6 million for salaries and overhead related to the trial, arraignments, pretrial hearings and jury selection.

The coroner’s office has spent $99,302 on autopsies, scientific tests and on-scene investigations, while the auditor-controller’s office has spent $18,157 accounting for the case’s costs.

The county has deferred a fraction of the case’s costs through $243,503 in rental revenue from various news organizations for the Hall of Justice parking lot from September through July.