Before he became a household name, Cochran built a reputation as a staunch defender of civil rights, and won numerous cases involving police brutality, wrongful death, and mass tort litigation. He became the first African American assistant District Attorney in Los Angeles in 1978, saying that joining the government was the best way to become ...
Johnnie Cochran, Jr. began his legal career in Los Angeles as a Deputy Attorney for the city's criminal division. Cochran worked his way through the ranks to accept a position as Assistant District Attorney for Los Angeles County.
Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr. (/ˈkɒkrən/; October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer and civil activist best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal of O. J. Simpson for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
Now officially on the prosecution team, he would have to face down Simpson's star defense attorney, Johnnie Cochran, best known for his now famous quip, “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.” This was the making of an epic duel, the likes of which the country had never seen.Jul 25, 2017
$450,000How Much Did Oj Pay Robert Shapiro? Shapiro settled his claim for $450,000. That's nearly twice what he claims he was paid to represent the client initially.Apr 5, 2022
Cochran, Jr., (born Oct. 2, 1937, Shreveport, La., U.S.—died March 29, 2005, Los Angeles, Calif.), American trial lawyer who gained international prominence with his skillful and controversial defense of O.J. Simpson, a football player and celebrity who was charged with a double murder in 1994.Mar 25, 2022
Johnnie Cochran established himself as a sought after attorney dealing with high-profile police brutality cases involving the African American community. He attracted famous clients like Michael Jackson and led O. J. Simpson's defense team in the 1995 murder trial.Jan 21, 2016
There was blood on top of the glove. As the prosecution states, the blood seeped into the fibers of the leather and shrunk them, ultimately making Simpson's hand not fit into it.Apr 6, 2022
He ensured that the jury knew that they couldn't convict someone without sufficient evidence, and he made this statement over and over again to show the jury that there was, in fact, insufficient evidence to convict OJ Simpson.Sep 14, 2018
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Simpson's flamboyant lead attorney, died of brain cancer in 2005 at 68. His refrain to jurors that “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit” sought to underscore that the bloody gloves found at Simpson's home and the crime scene were too small for the football legend when he tried them on in court.Jun 10, 2019
June 16, 1994Nicole Brown Simpson / Date of burial
Simpson trial. …as the “Dream Team,” included F. Lee Bailey, Robert Blasier, Shawn Chapman Holley, Robert Shapiro, and Alan Dershowitz; Johnnie Cochran later became the defense team's lead attorney.Feb 16, 2022
A civil court jury found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths even though he was cleared in “The Trial of the Century.” The civil jury awarded $33.5 million in damages to the victims' families. That judgment was renewed in court in 2015 and extended through 2025.Jun 15, 2021
He would continue his education at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he would receive his Juris Doctor in 1963.
Johnnie Cochran's early life. Long before the "Trial of the Century" and parodies on network television, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on October 2, 1937, to Johnnie L. Cochran Sr. and his wife Hattie.
This in part came from some disturbing accusations leveled against him by his first wife and an affair during their marriage.
Simpson trial would be the highlight of Johnnie Cochran's career: He'd successfully acquitted one of his most well-known clients and put the entire Los Angeles Police Department on trial for their history of brutality and racial abuse. However, according to The Washington Post, overturning the conviction of Geronimo Pratt is what Cochran said was "the happiest day" of his legal practice.
In 1965, the Watts race riots broke out. According to Britannica, 34 people died and over 1,000 individuals were injured during the six-day riot. That same year, believing that African Americans were being abused in the criminal justice system, Cochran left the city's office.
Not since Clarence Darrow at the turn of the 20th century has there been a lawyer as well-known in the public eye. And like his counterpart, Cochran was known for representing poor and working-class citizens against what he felt was an oppressive and racist system within the government.
According to The Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame, Johnnie Cochran became the first African American assistant district attorney in Los Angeles when he was hired to the position in 1978. He said that joining the government was the best way to become one of the "good guys" that can fight for justice within the justice system.
Cochran Jr. ( search ), who became a household name when he defended O.J. Simpson ( search) against murder charges, died of a brain tumor on Tuesday at the age of 67.
Cochran represented former Black Panther Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt, who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. When Cochran helped Pratt win his freedom in 1997 he called the moment "the happiest day of my life practicing law.".
Those words, referring to the moment when Simpson tried on a pair of bloodied gloves to show they did not fit, appeared to resonate.
As a youth, Cochran idolize Thurgood Marshall, the attorney who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to outlaw school segregation in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision and who would eventually become the Supreme Court's first black justice.