Superstar Lawyer Johnnie Cochran Dies

1 minute ago

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent

LOS ANGELES - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who became a legal superstar after helping clear O.J. Simpson during a sensational murder trial in which he uttered the famous quote, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died Tuesday. He was 67.

Cochran died of a brain disorder in Los Angeles, said law partner Randy McMurray.
[Edited 3/29/05 15:32pm]

Really?

Yeah I just heard, I didn't even know he was sick. R.I.P.

By GREG RISLING, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., who became a legal superstar after helping clear O.J. Simpson during a sensational murder trial in which he uttered the famous quote "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," died Tuesday. He was 67.

Cochran died of a brain disorder in Los Angeles, said law partner Randy McMurray.


"Certainly, Johnnie's career will be noted as one marked by celebrity cases and clientele," his family said in a statement. "But he and his family were most proud of the work he did on behalf of those in the community."


With his colorful suits and ties, his gift for courtroom oratory and a knack for coining memorable phrases, Cochran was a vivid addition to the pantheon of great American barristers.


The "if it doesn't fit" phrase would be quoted and parodied for years afterward. It derived from a dramatic moment during which Simpson tried on a pair of bloodstained "murder gloves" to show jurors they did not fit. Some legal experts called it the turning point in the trial.


Soon after, jurors found the Hall of Fame football star not guilty of the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.


For Cochran, Simpson's acquittal was the crowning achievement in a career notable for victories, often in cases with racial themes. He was a black man known for championing the causes of black defendants. Some of them, like Simpson, were famous, but more often than not they were unknowns.


"The clients I've cared about the most are the No Js, the ones who nobody knows," said Cochran, who proudly displayed copies in his office of the multimillion-dollar checks he won for ordinary citizens who said they were abused by police.


"People in New York and Los Angeles, especially mothers in the African-American community, are more afraid of the police injuring or killing their children than they are of muggers on the corner," he once said.


By the time Simpson called, the byword in the black community for defendants facing serious charges was: "Get Johnnie."

whoa!

Thats sad ...

Just read a blurb about this!

Rest His Soul.

What the!?..... I didn't even know he was sick.

Rest in Peace Mr. C

I betcha the fucker will talk his way through the pearly gates.

oh dear...
im totally weirded out by that
i never even KNEW he was
a) sick
or
b) that old

well i guess i shoulda known....black dont crack.

Didn't he help get Jacko the settlement on the Jordy Chandler escapade in 1993?

SammiJ said:

True He looked great for 67!

bkw said:

if the wings don't fit, you must acquit.

, did not know he was ill

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

:thumpsup: to johnny!!

OOPS >>> i posted a full artical on this too

sorry

SammiJ said:

67 is much too young to die IMO.

sosgemini said:

I got your THUMP right here!


This is really sad though... 67 is pretty young.

ReturnOfDOOK said:

and 67 is young..but ten years ago it wasnt...we shouldnt be all that shocked that sometimes are bodies are sorta ahead of science and sometimes we just drop dead cause of it...

:mindblown:....a brain disorder??...who knew??? Rest In Peace

RazzBeret said:

did you know him?

This is really sad and shocking news. Everyone says he had a loveable personality.

Yes
But he was a lawyer

A lawyer died. At the same moment, the Pope also died (hope he doesn't). They arrived at the gates of heaven at the same moment. They spend the day in orientation, and as they're getting their heavenly vestments, the Pope gets a plain white toga and wings, like everyone else, and the lawyer gets much finer apparel, made of gold thread, and Gucci shoes.

Then, they get to see where they're going to live. The Pope gets what everyone else gets, a replica of a Holiday Inn room, and the lawyer gets an 18-room mansion with servants and a swimming pool.

At dinnertime, the Pope receives the standard meal, a kosher TV dinner, but the lawyer receives a five-course meal including caviar, prime rib and chocolate truffles.

By this time, the lawyer is beginning to suspect that an error has been made, so he asks one of the angels in charge, "Has there been some kind of mistake? This guy was the Pope, and he gets what everyone else gets, and I'm just a lawyer and I'm getting the finest of everything?"

The angel replied, "No mistake, sir. We've had lots of Popes here, but you're the first lawyer we've ever had."

LOL!!! That was clever.