I thought his client was guilty. Got away with the murder of two people. But no one can say Johnnie Cochran didn’t zealously represent him. Johnnie Cochran is dead at 67:
Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., the charismatic attorney who became famous in the successful defense of football star O.J. Simpson on murder charges, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles of a brain tumor, spokespeople said.
Cochran began his career as a crusader against police abuses, often in cases involving black clients, but is best known for the trial that won a controversial acquittal for Simpson on murder charges in 1995.
More from My Way News.
Previous obituaries: Ossie Davis, Johnny Carson, Shirley Chisholm, Rick James, Ronald Reagan and Superman.
Other bloggers: Wizbang…
Update (3/30): I think former cop Mark Fuhrman got a raw deal, but he had only himself to blame. While testifying for the prosecution in O.J. Simpson’s trial, Furhman was asked if he ever used the word “nigger,” and he lied. “No.”
Who hasn’t ever used that word? It was a needless lie that ruined his career and reputation. It was much worse than the truth. Regardless, I think Fuhrman is doing a great job with his independent investigations and books. I highly recommend Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? and Murder in Brentwood.
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Jerry – I accidentally deleted your comment along with the spam comments. Yours, too, Ian. Sorry!
Well, I have to admit that I was MORE THAN CURIOUS about the visible paralysis he displayed on the left side of his face during the O.J.Simpson trial-by-opinion.
I agree that his client there was guilty (most people do and did then, but the case was determined by jury selection and by jury sequestration, since some on the jury later spoke publicly about how they’d have determined for guilt had they known what they found out after the trial but were prevented from knowing during the trial)…but I’m wondering if this now calls into question the entire “if the gloves don’t fit, you must acquit” because Cochran obviously was suffering from some form of paralysis (now we know why, and that was an inoperative brain tumor) during the infamous O.J. trial procedures. Good thing it’s recorded in video.
I’m just curious if his health status was made known during that trial.
Tip of the fedora to him.
La Shawn:
I don’t wish death on anyone, except, perhaps, mass killers like Yassar Arafat and others.
Johnny Cochran and his friends made a living by creating doubt about obvious facts. Most famously, by undermining the confidence the OJ jury had in DNA evidence. To the uninformed,this DNA analysis remains a mystery, yet to scientists and doctors, it is plain as day – almost so plain that it doesn’t need explaination. And herein lies the problem – it is truly an unusual talent to be able to explain such technical stuff to the man (woman) on the street and on the jury.
Likewise, some Boston jury believed the “repressed memories” of a “victim” of molestation by a priest. This theory has been discredited for many years, yet the jury believed it; I heard the expert witness, who just was not very assertive and didn’t handle questioning well.
The case (aside from OJ) I remember about Cochran is from Buffalo, NY, my home town.
Some Black employee of the Galleria, in a suburb, fell under a bus walking on the ice and fell under a bus and was killed.
She had to walk the last mile, because the bus didn’t go all the way.
The “smoking gun” was recorded minutes of a Board meeting where it was deciced not to request the bus line go all the way, to prevent “undesireables” from using the bus to go there and trash the place (unfortunately, the truth, but nos PC – especially for anyone stupid enough to say it in a place where it could be recorded). Cochran squeezed some money out of them for the “victim”.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Johnny Cochrans out there – confusing people about established scientific fact – shameful.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of Johnny Cochrans out there – confusing people about established scientific fact – shameful.
Frank, I watched almost the entire OJ trial. I was off work following surgery and didn’t miss any of the televised portion. I thought the defense team did quite well, but the LAPD gave them all they needed. LAPD didn’t need to try to frame OJ. They had enough. LAPD gave the defense the wide open door for acquittal. A chump could have won that one.
I hated OJ getting off and I hated Cochran playing the race card, but Marcia Clark and the other guy and some in LAPD blew that case…exactly right Ol’ BC.
I love lawyer stories and I love great lawyers. Regardless of what one may think of O.J.’s guilt or Johnnie Cochran’s trial strategy, by most accounts, Johnnie was an exceptional lawyer and a thoroughly decent person. During the O.J. trial, I was sitting with my brother in the lounge of the Wort Hotel in Jackson Hole (home of another great lawyer, Jerry Spence), watching F. Lee Bailey cross-examine Detective Furham’s use of the “N” word. When Furham denied having ever used it, I knew then that the case for the prosecution would “go South”: Another great lawyer, Bob Murphy, taught me that the “absolutely, positively, 100% sure” witness is almost always the easiest to impeach. (As an aside, I feel that Furham redeemed himself somewhat in the Martha Moxley case.)
F. Lee & Company built the case, and I recollect that Johnnie was brought in after F. Lee’s cross-examination, but did Johnnie ever run with it! As a native Buffalonian, I wanted to believe The Juice was innocent. He may have killed Nicole but he was not guilty of her murder.
Johnnie also was a role model to other blacks (and I don’t know the details of his personal life beyond a few media snippets; I am sure he had his share of human weaknesses). According to another lawyer who worked closely with Johnnie on the wrongful-death case in Buffalo Frank Zavisca mentions, he was a down-to-earth guy who cared for justice and the correct result in an often-murky and unpredictable legal system that, frankly, seemed stacked against blacks and other minorities.
(Frank, the facts are that the victim was hit by a car crossing a treacherous stretch of highway, the outbound omnibus being prohibited from entering the mall property due to established contrivance between the transit authority and the upscale-mall developer/operator to keep out unwanted “inner-city elements.” The settlement didn’t go to the victim, as she died on the spot. A seven-figure sum was secured for a surviving tot but only after litigation involving highly-paid defense counsel.)
Did he shamelessly exploit the race card in the O.J. trial? Perhaps. But he was indeed a zealous advocate. And, I’ll bet, if you ask a lot of eight-year-olds (of any race) who they would rather aspire to be more like, Johnnie Cochran or the gangsta-rapper-of-the-month, my money’s on Johnnie.
Johnnie Cochran was an opportunist lawyer. He did sue the city of LA, on behalf of his client Reginald Denny. The truck driver that got beat up during the LA (Rodney King) riots.
“I’ll bet, if you ask a lot of eight-year-olds (of any race) who they would rather aspire to be more like, Johnnie Cochran or the gangsta-rapper-of-the-month, my money?s on Johnnie.”
Actually my comment on another blog – the problem is that more 8 year olds aspire to be Eminem or Fifty Cent and not Johnny Cochran.
Johnny Cochran was a great lawyer…and he did his job. You people who are criticizing him obviously must believe that he somehow should have done a ‘worse’ job in representing his client, because of how you ‘feel’ about race in America.
The job of the defense is to ‘win’….
RIP Johnny….
To David and La Shawn:
Concerning the Buffalo case – the decision not to have the bus enter the mall was a legitimate business decision – unfair? perhaps, but what has been the cost of malls nationwide when the “disenfranchised” drive off customers.
Johnnie Cochran is from Shreveport, where I am now. I am not proud. Cochran has done much to fan the flames of racial hatred – for a high fee. Role Model? NO.
South Park Mall in Shreveport has suffered the same fate the people in Buffalo were trying to avoid. Gangs of the “diesnfranchised” murdered customers in the parking lot, and harassed customers repeatedly, while the Shreveport Police were “sensitive” to the “cultural needs” of the gamgs.
The mall closed along with many associated stores. So unemployment of Blacks working ther is a little higher, all in the interest of “fairness.
NPR gave Cochran 3 minutes today; 3 minutes more than he is worth.
Does anyone believe a White predatory attorney would get 3 minutes on NPR for an obituary?
Sincerely,
Frank
yeah OJ was guilty in my opinion, but to be fair to Cochran, I do understand he had many many far far less famous clients that he and his firm also zealously represented.
Johnny gets no love.
I was cruising by a conservative talk show this morning and heard, “The feeding tube of justice has been reinserted into the belly of America: Johnnie Cochran is dead!”
Nice. And they say democrats are evil.
Making light of the Terri case along WITH the death of someone else is PRICELESS. I thought life was precious? I guess it too can suffer the fate of the “sanctity” of marriage debate. The bond between a man and woman is like the bond between man and God, therefore, we cannot change the definition in our law. Well, unless we think the husband is a lying, two faced fink who doesnt have the right to honor what he says are his wife’s wishes. And now…life is not precious and should not be respected for the likes of Johnnny Cochran!
I watched the whole OJ trial, and I regarded Johnnie Cochran and his team as knights in shining armor. It seemed that if the police could jump over a fence into someone’s private property on very faint evidence, a drop of blood the size of a dime under the handle of OJ’s car, then the police could do the very same thing to anyone, including me. It just wasn’t right, and Johnnie Cochran and his team were defending not only OJ, but all of America.
Fuhrman has a radio show now, and has some good points and has done some good things, but from time to time I hear him give himself away, as a person who might approve of police overreaching their powers.
To the gentleman above about “three” minutes…
May I ask you what the purpose of a “defense” attorney is? Or are you just mindlessly babbling because you hate it that OJ is free?
Frank,
I hope when you are accused of a crime, your lawyer defends you the way you think Cochran should have defended his clients. You will, of course, spend the rest of your life in prison, whether or not you are guilty, but hey, that’s the cost of having lawyers not do their jobs: representing their clients in the most zealous legal manner they can.
one sound byte i listened to said that johnnie and his wife were proud of the good work they did for people. someone above said that he was ‘decent.’ ask his previous wives whom he beat up on a regular basis! and playing the race card on OJ was cheap (as it is with michael jackson). i don’t think reasonable people cared what color he was. he killed his wife in a brutal barbaric manner. cochran needed to defend his client the best he could, but his abusive behavior with his wives and some of his ethical standards tend to cast shadows on his ‘decency’ and ‘humanitarian’ contributions.
I met Mr. Cochran. Very personable. He did a lot before he was thrust into the spotlight with the OJ case.
I can say that if he were the prosecutor for California v. OJ Simpson, Mr. Simpson would be in jail today.
The Race Card…what exactly is “the Race Card”…because it seems to me white people have been holding 5 Aces in everyhand for a while now…
Ito blew the trial. Marcia didn’t help with her condemnation of Furman. I have always felt that the only proper scope of the question was whether he had ever used the word on duty. Since his use of the word was in a dramatic reconstruction, it was irrelevant to the evidence he gave.
Though Furhman may deserve the reputation for being a good independant investigator and author, he also deserves his bad reputation for integrity.
My understanding isn’t that he just used the “N” word. He used it frequantly. He also admitted that he and other LA cops disliked black folks and regularly falsified evidence against them to assure convinctions.
Sorry. I just can’t find it in myself to admire a guy like that for anything. I’ll continue to avoid his radio program and books like the plague.
Falsified evidence? Are you sure about that?
LaShawn … Mister Furhman’s book on the Spokane serial killer is also an excellent read
Who hasn’t ever used that word? It was a needless lie that ruined his career.
Yeah, that was dumb. I’m sure someone could be found who heard me utter that slur when I was in 6th grade. S’like those people who claim they NEVER — well, you know.
Johnnie Cochran did his job and did it well. Many cried about the playing of the ‘race card’, but how long has the other side of the race card been played in this country. OJ received what he paid for, which was excellent legal representation. Had the LAPD been a tad more professional and honest, they would have secured a conviction. Don’t villify the man for doing his job. RIP Mr. Cochran.
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