Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Cochran, Johnnie (1937–2005)

Johnnie Cochran was an African American lawyer and advocate of minority rights and equality of justice for everyone. He played an instrumental role in bringing attention to race and injustice in the criminal justice system in California as well as elsewhere in the United States. This entry examines the life of Johnnie Cochran and his contributions to the administration of justice as a prosecuting and defense attorney.

The Beginning

Born in 1937, Johnnie Cochran, Jr., earned his bachelor's degree from University of California, Los Angeles in 1959 and a law degree from Loyola Law School (part of Loyola Marymount University) in 1963. Inspired by Thurgood Marshall, Cochran thought he could make a difference through practicing law. In 1963, he passed the California bar and took a job with the city of Los Angeles, serving as a deputy city attorney in the criminal division. He worked as a prosecutor until 1965, and then he began private practice.

By handling civil and criminal cases, Cochran became a prominent advocate for victims of alleged police brutality. A very influential case for Cochran was that of Leonard Deadwyler, a Black man shot and killed by police as he tried to rush his pregnant wife to the hospital in 1966. Cochran represented the Deadwyler family, and although he lost that case, Cochran realized that accountability for police brutality was an important issue for minorities, and that these types of cases deserved more attention. His involvement in such cases made him a well-known attorney in Los Angeles.

In an interesting move, Cochran worked for the Los Angeles County district attorney's offices in 1978 as the assistant district attorney. Cochran took on this role to broaden his political contacts and to alter his image. In the early 1980s, he went back to private practice and began delivering crucial wins for the Black community in civil lawsuits against police brutality. As Cochran's fame grew, celebrities began hiring Cochran to take on their cases.

Becoming a Household Name

One of Cochran's first major celebrity clients was Michael Jackson, whom Cochran represented after child molestation allegations were leveled against Jackson. Cochran was able to arrange an out-of-court settlement with the boy's family, and Cochran also had the case retired in such a way that no criminal charges were ever filed against Jackson concerning the incident.

Cochran is perhaps most known for his lead role in the “Dream Team” defense in the 1995 O. J. Simpson trial. Simpson was accused of the 1994 murder of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. Cochran prepared a strong defense from the beginning of the trial and continually weakened the prosecutors' case. One of the crucial ways Cochran delivered this was by challenging the evidence and paying special attention to the racist attitudes (known as “playing the race card”) of the police officers, especially those of one of the investigating officers, Mark Fuhrman. In the Simpson trial's summation, Cochran's famous words were, “If it doesn't fit, you must acquit,” when reminding the jurors that Mr. Simpson's hand could not fit in the bloody glove that was recovered at the scene of the killings. The acquittal of the Simpson case instantly made Johnnie Cochran a national household name.

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution