Ron Goldman’s sister feels for Trayvon Martin’s family; shares how it feels when verdict goes awry

Verdicts don’t always go the way people believe they will. Nearly a week after the verdict, people are still protesting the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.

But in any murder case, likely those most interested in the outcome are the family members of the victim, seeking justice for their loved one. Near 20 years after her brother Ron was killed, Kim Goldman tells KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show she’s still fighting for that cause.

“I made a promise to him that I would always seek justice for his horrific death and I will continue to do that until I can’t anymore,” writes Kim, today a victim’s advocate, on her website.

Kim’s brother, Ron Goldman, was killed in Los Angeles along with O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson. O.J. was arrested, but later acquitted of two counts of murder in what some called, “the trial of the century.”

While Goldman says she agrees with the verdict in the Zimmerman case, she says she feels for Trayvon Martin’s family.

“What makes me sad, listening to the Martin family when they talk about what the verdict was going to be, I feel like they weren’t prepared for it to go the way it did,” says Goldman. “I hope someone told them that it could possibly take the turn that it did.”

Goldman says she always felt in her heart O.J. Simpson was guilty. But even after Simpson was found liable for damages in a civil wrongful death lawsuit and ordered to pay $33.5 million to the Goldman family, she says they didn’t see much, as O.J. filed for bankruptcy.

In a strange twist, the family did see money from O.J.’s book “If I Did It,” which Goldman says she saw as O.J.’s confession to the murders.

They didn’t necessarily get a sense of justice from the cases involving the murder, but Goldman says a subsequent court decision did provide them some satisfaction.

The Goldman’s were finally able to witness O.J. being led to a jail cell after he was arrested and charged with felonies, including kidnapping and armed robbery following an incident in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Kim, her father, and her sister were in the courtroom when Simpson was sentenced to nine to 33 years in prison for the crimes.

“It was pretty amazing to watch him stand there old and chubby and pleading for help. It was fantastic to see him get denied that and to watch him walk back through the door that led him back to his cell because all the years past he walked out the same front door that we did. So it was pretty great for us.”

Even though the court found Zimmerman not guilty in the death of Trayvon Martin, this is likely not the last action Zimmerman will face.

The NAACP has called for the Justice Department to open a civil rights case against Zimmerman. Supporters have also suggested that Martin’s parents file a wrongful-death civil lawsuit against Zimmerman.

Though Goldman agrees with the Zimmerman verdict, she says there are useful ways for those who disagree to take action.

“This is the only system we have. We have a voice. We put it into place,” says Goldman. “We can go challenge laws, so all of these people out there, including people in high-power positions, if you think this is an issue, what are you going to do to pave the way so it doesn’t continue? Lead us to that place.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.