AALBC.com mourns the passing of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.: Oct. 2, 1937 to March
29, 2005
Johnnie L. Cochran,
Jr., a trial lawyer in Los Angeles, is known for his landmark victories against
official misconduct within the legal system and for his work with high-profile
clients including Michael Jackson, Reginald Denny, and
O.J. Simpson.
After receiving his law degree from Loyola University School of Law in 1962, Mr. Cochran served as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, assigned to the Criminal Division from 1963 to 1965. He then founded the law firm of Cochran, Atkins & Evans, where he handled both civil and criminal cases.
Mr. Cochran was named Criminal Trial Lawyer of the Year in February 1977 by the Los Angeles Criminal Courts Bar Association and then served as the Assistant District Attorney for Los Angeles County from 1978-1980, the first African-American to hold the position. In 1979, he was instrumental in founding the Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Council.
In 1981, Mr. Cochran returned to private practice as a plaintiff's trial lawyer and won a number of landmark decisions against police misconduct. In 1992, he received the highest jury award in the history of the city of Los Angeles in a police misconduct matter on behalf of a 13-year-old girl molested by an LAPD officer. Mr. Cochran has also handled several cases for high-profile clients such as Todd Bridges, Michael Jackson, former Black Panther Geronimo Pratt, Reginald Denny, and O.J. Simpson.
Mr. Cochran is the only attorney ever to be the recipient of the Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from both the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association and the Criminal Courts Bar Association. Mr. Cochran is a member of the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers and The American College of Trial Lawyers, whose membership consists of the top one percent of trial attorneys in the United States. Mr. Cochran was inducted into The Inner Circle of Advocates, an organization of the country's top 100 plaintiff lawyers. His autobiography, Journey to Justice, a national bestseller written with Tim Rutten, was recently published by One World/Ballantine Books.
Born in Shreveport,
Louisiana in 1937, Mr. Cochran received a bachelor's degree in business
administration from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Bio Excerpted from
http://www.courttv.com
A
Lawyer's Life
Click to order via
Amazon
Hardcover, 272pp.
ISBN: 0312278268
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, Date: September 2002
While often vilified for his defense of Simpson, Cochran emerged from the trial as a leading African American spokes person. But he has done most of his talking through the courtroom in such high profile cases as:
Cochran explains how he has used the law to force fundamental changes in America, it was Cochran, critics still claim, who dealt the first "race card." Here is his answer to that and other accusations.
Journey
to Justice
Click to order via
Amazon
In Journey to Justice, Johnnie Cochran illuminates the odyssey that led him from a small, rented home shared with his extended family in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Judge Lance Ito's courtroom. In 1954, Brown vs. the Board of Education galvanized the young Cochran.
Taking Thurgood Marshall as his role model, Cochran embarked on a legal career in which he won landmark decisions against official misconduct within the criminal justice system. From Leonard Deadwyler, a black motorist stopped for speeding to the hospital with his pregnant wife, then shot dead by the police; to Ron Settles, a black college football star whose death at the hands of police was made to look like suicide; to the record 9.4-million-dollar jury verdict he won for a thirteen-year-old Latina girl molested by a uniformed LAPD officer, Cochran fought to change police procedures responsible for some of the most blatant abuse committed by those sworn to "protect and serve."
It was the sobering experience of these earlier cases that fueled the inner turmoil of a man whose deeply felt sense of duty to the law and to his people compelled him to take a leading role in the case of People vs. Orenthal James Simpson, one of the greatest morality plays of our time - a play that has forever altered our perceptions of race relations in America. In Journey to Justice we learn about the man behind the sound bites, the zealous advocate for such diverse clients as Michael Jackson and Reginald Denny, the white truck driver attacked in the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict. In Journey to Justice, Cochran reflects not only on how these events shaped his legal philosophy but also on the contexts within which these courtroom dramas were played out.
Related Links
O.J. Simpson's Confession: If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
http://reviews.aalbc.com/if_i_did_it.htm
Transcript of Online chat session coordinated by Troy Johnson AALBC.com and Ricco Keyes of New York On-line
Hosted, Thursday, April 10, 1997 at 10:00 AM
Principal Carlyle Leach
The School for Legal Studies
"Principal of the Day" Johnnie Cochran
"Chancellor for the Day" Bill Cosby
Thu Apr 10 09:42:53 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Boboleta:
Salutations, how are you this morning Mr. Cochran?
Thu Apr 10 09:43:17 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I'm doing real fine. Thank you."
Thu Apr 10 09:43:26 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Maggie:
Why did you decide to be a principal for the day?
Thu Apr 10 09:44:38 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"Because I love interacting with students especially those who have indicated a desire to study law."
Thu Apr 10 09:44:46 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Ricco:
What case stands out the most in your mind and why?
Thu Apr 10 09:45:49 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"The case of Geronimo Pratt, because I have been fighting for 25 years to gain his freedom."
Thu Apr 10 09:45:58 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Antje:
Do you believe in the innocence of OJ ?
Thu Apr 10 09:46:09 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"Yes I do."
Thu Apr 10 09:46:39 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Ricco:
What are your plans for the future? Supreme court, maybe?
Thu Apr 10 09:47:25 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I plan to continue doing my TV show, Cochran and Grace, and I plan to continue practicing la."
Thu Apr 10 09:47:29 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Troy:
How do you enjoy being "Principal for the day" ? Also, do you see criminal defense as a growth field?
Thu Apr 10 09:48:29 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I am thoroughy enjoying being principal for a day and I also believe that here will always be a need for criminal defense lawyers in a democracy"
Thu Apr 10 09:48:33 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Boboleta:
Hello Mr. Cochran how is your health?
Thu Apr 10 09:48:56 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"My health is great"
Thu Apr 10 09:48:58 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Gee:
there is discusion on class based preferences instead of race based preferences, in your view is one more relevant than the other in helping African Americans move forward or are they both flawed?
Thu Apr 10 09:50:14 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Ricco:
Where are you from?
Thu Apr 10 09:50:39 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I believe that we still need affirmative action in this country. Primarily based uppon race and gender, more than class."
Thu Apr 10 09:51:08 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I am from Shreveport, Louisiana."
Thu Apr 10 09:51:10 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Gee:
how much corporate vs individual work do you do
Thu Apr 10 09:51:41 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I do some corporate but probably 75% of legal work I do is for individuals."
Thu Apr 10 09:51:44 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Ricco:
If a child from a low income area is interested in studying law, are there any financial and mentor support groups that may assist them?
Thu Apr 10 09:52:38 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"Yes, school programs like The School for Legal Studies where I am serving as Principal for a day."
Thu Apr 10 09:52:43 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Guest3:
Where did you go to law school?
Thu Apr 10 09:52:50 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Guest3:
Howloang have you been practicing law?
Thu Apr 10 09:53:13 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I attended Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles."
Thu Apr 10 09:53:20 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Boboleta:
What are the implications for legal precedence in domestic violence cases after OJ?
Thu Apr 10 09:54:23 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I think there is probably a heightened awareness of the need to seriously deal with cases of domestic violence in the post OJ era."
Thu Apr 10 09:54:25 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Bignes:
how did it feel to represent O.J.Simson
Thu Apr 10 09:55:07 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"It was quite an experience and I thoroughly enjoyed working with the lawyers on our team."
Thu Apr 10 09:55:10 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Guest3:
What are you doing to improve race relations in this country?
Thu Apr 10 09:56:00 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"Speaking throughout the country on the need to bridge the racial gaps that existed before the Simpson trial."
Thu Apr 10 09:56:07 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Antje:
What went wrong in the civil case? Was it due to the white members of the jury?
Thu Apr 10 09:56:58 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"It is hard to say but one has to look at the climate in the country, the judge and his rulings, and the make up of the jury."
Thu Apr 10 09:57:00 1997:
Admin presents the speakers with question
from Ricco:
Do you think that OJ was found not guilty because the jury believed him, or because a threat of a riot existed?
Thu Apr 10 09:58:41 1997:
Johnnie Cochran replies,
"I think he was found not guilty because the jury found that the prosecution failed to prove their case by reasonable doubt."
Thu Apr 10 09:58:41 1997:
Johnnie Cochran closes,
"Thanks for joining me today and remember that "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.""
fin
