being an ex-doctor, ended up with many lawyer friends, as they seemed to always be sniffing around the hospitals for "cases" (Kidding...maybe not)

He said that if there is money involved, the case usually continues in order to determine who keeps the estate of the defendant. In OJ Simpson's case, if it was early, when he still had money, they would have to determine guilt or not to see whether his estate would go to his surviving family, if not guilty, or somewhere else, if he was found guilty. Is usually the same in most cases. If there is no money involved or the outcome will not change anybody's pocket, then the case stops to avoid cost to the "people" (the govmnt).

Is about the money but is not. The court normally could care less, but based on past experiences, if the court stops the case after death, they would get sued by the different parties that were hoping to get the money. So, they continue the case to avoid a new and nastier case with the potential inheritors, including the "people".

Disclaimer: The wording is mine, but my friend said it in a much finer and elegant way!