The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES Ÿ O.J. Simpson has agreed to an unrestricted interview with CNN Ÿ at an undetermined date Ÿ and is reportedly negotiating to proclaim his innocence in a multimillion dollar video and infomerical.
Greta Van Susteren, a lawyer who helped analyze Simpson's murder case for CNN, said he promised the network an interview with no ground rules during a four-hour conversation with her last weekend.
Simpson backed out of a scheduled NBC-TV interview in October after his lawyers warned that anything he said could be used against him in pending civil suits.
The former football star was acquitted Oct. 3 in the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Their families filed wrongful-death lawsuits, and trial is tentatively set for April.
Simpson never took the stand at his yearlong murder trial but may have to in the civil cases.
Van Susteren, who appears on the CNN legal program ''Burden of Proof'' said the network is ''still working out the details'' of the Simpson interview. It will probably take place in the next few months and will include her fellow CNN legal analyst Roger Cossack, she said.
Simpson friend Leo Terrell, a civil rights attorney, said: ''I talked to O.J. last night and he said he would do the interview at a later date. He wants to do an interview with (Van Susteren). He likes her as a reporter.''
Robert C. Baker, Simpson's lawyer for the civil cases, his personal lawyer LeRoy Taft and defense attorneys Johnnie Cochran Jr. and Carl Douglas were unavailable for comment, their offices said yesterday.
Simpson is also negotiating a deal for a two-hour, $29.95 video proclaiming his innocence, the Daily News in New York reported yesterday.
He would receive $3 million upon completion of the video and an infomercial to hawk it, and up to $10 million if the tape sells well, sources told the newspaper.
The sources said Simpson hopes to sign with a Los Angeles-based infomercial company as soon as some well-known personality agrees to appear with him in the video. The deal could also hinge on whether TV stations would sell Simpson broadcast time for the infomercial.