A Los Angeles jury has found that O.J. Simpson was responsible for the death of Ron Goldman and the assault on his estranged wife Nicole Brown leading to her death. This dramatic finding, given early this morning Irish time, is in effect a reversal of the finding of the jury in the criminal trial last year in which he was found not guilty of murder.
O.J. Simpson now faces massive and punitive damages to be paid to the families of the two victims. The civil jury ordered him to pay $8.5 million to the bereaved, but this will no doubt be contested in another hearing today. However the final damages figure could be as high as $60 million.
As this was a civil action Mr Simpson does not face prison.
This latest verdict - which was unanimous - does not automatically deprive him of custody of his children, which he won recently.
The courtroom erupted in cheers when the first part of the verdict was read, and Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki warned spectators to keep silent or else they would be removed.
While he will serve no jail time, Simpson could face financial ruin. In addition to compensatory damages, he could be slapped with punitive damages to be determined in a second phase of the trial.
It was the culmination of a four-month courtroom drama in which Simpson's accusers tried to prove he had got away with murder.
The televising of the verdict in the Simpson civil trial clashed with the State of the Union speech of President Clinton, causing headaches for the TV networks. The networks were committed to coverage of the speech while knowing that most viewers were more interested in following the events in California.
Asked if Mr Clinton would delay his speech until the verdict was announced, the White House spokesman, Mr Mike McCurry, replied sharply: "Absolutely not."