Mar 29, 2005 · Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005. Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. has been recognized as an outstanding trial lawyer, civil libertarian and philanthropist throughout the world. As a seasoned litigator, Johnnie was considered to be one of the leading authorities on the criminal and civil justice system, as well as an ...
Jan 21, 2016 · Education and Early Career. Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. was born on October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Hattie and Johnnie L. Cochran Sr. The family moved to California in 1943, where the ...
Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. - October 2, 1937 - March 29, 2005. Long before Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. rose to international recognition as O.J. Simpson’s attorney, he was well respected in the legal community as a tireless advocate for victim’s rights. Born in Shreveport, LA, Johnnie moved with his family to California where he would ultimately ...
Answer (1 of 3): Inspired by Thurgood Marshall and the legal victory Thurgood won in Brown v. Board of Education, Cochran decided to dedicate his life to practicing law. Cochran felt his career was a calling, a double opportunity to work for what …
Apr 13, 2021 · 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.
Gabriel Macht | |
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Macht in 2013 | |
Born | Gabriel Swann Macht January 22, 1972 New York City, U.S. |
Other names | Gabriel Swann |
Education | Carnegie Mellon University (BFA) |
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.
After the Simpson trial, Cochran was a frequent commentator in law-related television shows. Additionally, he hosted his own show, Johnnie Cochran Tonight, on CourtTV. With the Simpson fame also came movie deals.
In 1978 , Cochran returned to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office in the leadership position of First Assistant District Attorney. Though he took a pay cut to do so, joining the government was his way of becoming "one of the good guys, one of the very top rung.".
During closing arguments in the Simpson trial, Cochran uttered the now famous phrase, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit." He used the phrase, which had been devised by fellow defense team member Gerald Uelmen, as a way to try to persuade the jury that Simpson could not have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson nor Ron Goldman. In a dramatic scene, Simpson appeared to have difficulty getting the glove on; stained with blood of both victims and Simpson, it had been found at the crime scene.
Cochran. The court ruled 7–2 that in light of Cochran's death, an injunction limiting the demonstrations of Ulysses Tory "amounts to an overly broad prior restraint upon speech." Two justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said that Cochran's death made it unnecessary for the court to rule. Lower courts, before Cochran died, held that Tory could not make any public comments about Cochran.
After passing the California bar exam in 1963, Cochran took a position in Los Angeles as a deputy city attorney in the criminal division. In 1964, the young Cochran prosecuted one of his first celebrity cases, Lenny Bruce, a comedian who had recently been arrested on obscenity charges. Two years later, Cochran entered private practice. Soon thereafter, he opened his own firm, Cochran, Atkins & Evans, in Los Angeles.
Cochran successfully represented Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant living in Brooklyn who was sodomized with a broken broomstick by officer Justin Volpe while in police custody. Louima was awarded an $8.75 million settlement, the largest police brutality settlement in New York City. Tension broke out between Louima's original lawyers and the new team headed by Cochran. The former team felt that Cochran and his colleagues were trying to take control of the entire trial.
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.
The “trial of the century,” as it was dubbed, began in January 1995 and was among the most publicized in history, followed by millions around the world. Cochran, displaying his trademark style, came to lead the team, with some conflict rising among the attorneys amidst sensational proceedings.
In 1966, a Black motorist named Leonard Deadwyler, while attempting to get his pregnant wife to a hospital, was killed by police officer Jerold Bova. Cochran filed a civil suit on behalf of Deadwyler's family; though he lost, the attorney was nonetheless inspired to take on police abuse cases over the ensuing years.
Johnnie Cochran was a very flamboyant performer in the court room. He was a dramatic actor, a preacher and a master communicator. The secret to his success was being able to capture the attention of the jury and convince them of his client’s innocence. When Cochran uttered his most famous line after O.J.
Peter Wendt is a lawyer turned freelance journalist living and working in Austin, TX. While he is an admirer of Johnnie Cochran’s work, Peter knows that there are tons of other amazing lawyers out there, such as these Philadelphia Defense Attorneys. Bio. Twitter.
He would continue his education at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, where he would receive his Juris Doctor in 1963.
Despite his work within the Black community and with people without the strongest financial means, Johnnie Cochran was still connected to Hollywood. Cochran's history of representing Black celebrities was well-known even before hitching his wagon to O.J. Simpson. In fact, Simpson was not even the most well-known celebrity Cochran represented in 1994. According to Bustle, that same year, Cochran had represented Michael Jackson in his child molestation trial, which ended in a settlement and no admission of guilt.
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.
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.
This in part came from some disturbing accusations leveled against him by his first wife and an affair during their marriage.
The vast majority of lawyers and attorneys in the United States barely register as blips on the radar of popular culture. In the best-case scenario, they might find themselves in the newspaper or being interviewed on television if a case they're a part of makes national or local news headlines. However, their star typically flames out once the case ends.
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.
Before the Simpson case, Cochran had achieved a reputation as a "go-to" lawyer for the rich, as well as a successful advocate for minorities in police brutality and civil rights cases. However, the controversial and dramatic Simpson trial made Cochran more widely known, generating a variety of opinions about him.
Cochran had often liked to say that he worked "not only for the OJs, but also the No Js". In other …
Cochran was born in 1937 in Shreveport, Louisiana. His father, Johnnie Cochran Sr. (1916–2018), was an insurance salesman and his mother sold Avon products. The family relocated to the West Coast during the second wave of the Great Migration, settling in Los Angeles in 1949. Cochran went to local schools and graduated first in his class from Los Angeles High School in 1955. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business economics from the University of California, Los Ang…
In December 2003, Cochran was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In April 2004, he underwent surgery, which led him to stay away from the media. Shortly thereafter, he told the New York Post that he was feeling well and was in good health.
He died from the brain tumor on March 29, 2005, at his home in Los Angeles. Public viewing of his casket was conducted on April 4, at the Angelus Funeral Home and April 5, at Second Baptist Ch…
On May 31, 2005, two months after Cochran's death, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its opinion on Tory v. Cochran. The court ruled 7–2 that in light of Cochran's death, an injunction limiting the demonstrations of Ulysses Tory "amounts to an overly broad prior restraint upon speech." Two justices, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said that Cochran's death made it unnecessary for the court to rule. Lower courts, before Cochran died, held that Tory could not make any public co…
After the Simpson trial, Cochran was a frequent commentator in law-related television shows. Additionally, he hosted his own show, Johnnie Cochran Tonight, on CourtTV. With the Simpson fame also came movie deals.
Actor Phil Morris played attorney Jackie Chiles, a character parody of Cochran, in several episodes of Seinfeld. He was satirized in the "Chef Aid" episode of the animated sitcom South Park, in whic…