Johnnie L. Cochran was a legal legend who rose to prominence as the celebrity criminal defense attorney who defended O.J. Simpson in the 1995 murder trial of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. Simpson was charged with the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Cochran is credited with bringing Simpson to acquittal in the case. Additionally, he defended Michael Jackson in 2005 during his trial for allegedly sexually abusing children. Johnnie’s name is synonymous with superior work in the area of criminal defense law in Los Angeles and beyond, and this reputation has spread outside the city.
Cochran became well-known for his strong, emotive courtroom techniques, which enthralled juries, opposing lawyers, and the media in his cases. He was noted for defending all of his clients with the same zeal. What is not always obvious. Is that he also represented a large number of non-famous defendants. In defending non-celebrity clients, he used the same strategies he used in defending star clients. The audience was intrigued by his legal recipe for victory. His outfits were brightly colored, and he sported a variety of ties. He was skilled at employing memorable phrases in court oratory. Because of the exposure he received as a defense counsel, he became regarded as a “human rights lawyer.”
Victories marked Cochran’s career in numerous ways, frequently with racial implications. He was well-known for his advocacy on behalf of black people and was generally acknowledged with advocating for their rights regardless of their celebrity. Cochran’s career was frequently highlighted for its accomplishments, particularly in racial issues. When conflict developed, the black community’s dominant reaction was “Get Johnnie.”
Cochran has battled multiple lawsuits for football great Jim Brown, actor Todd Bridges, musician Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and Elmer ‘Geronimo’ Pratt, in addition to his more high-profile cases. Mr. Pratt was sentenced to 27 years in jail for a murder he did not commit. Cochran claimed it was the best day in his legal career when he helped release Pratt in 1997.
Cochran opposed police assertions that he killed himself in a wrongful death case filed by the family of Ron Settles, a black college football player who died in police custody in 1981. An autopsy was done once the body was excavated, and it was discovered that Settles had been choked.
Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant tortured by New York police, was one of his customers. Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old black woman, was shot and murdered by Riverside police officers who said she grabbed for a revolver on her lap when they shattered her car window to disarm her.
He took up cases even when the outcome was uncertain. Police shot and killed a young black guy as he attempted to take his pregnant wife to the hospital. Cochran backed Deadwyler’s family, who blamed the cops for the boy’s death’s unwarranted cruelty. The Los Angeles Police Department claimed that the officers were acting in self-defense, but the district attorney declined to prosecute charges, and the civil complaint was dismissed. Cochran acknowledged that those were difficult cases to win back then. But, as Deadwylar verified to me, these incidents of police violence greatly mobilized the minority community. It showed him that these incidents may garner a lot of attention, he said.
Johnnie Cochran, Jr. is an enslaved person’s descendent. He grew up in Los Angeles, where his parents and instructors stressed knowledge, independence, and a commitment to human fairness. His father’s well-paying profession with the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, inspired him to keep his grades up in public schools. As he grew older, he met more individuals with more money and more luxurious stuff, which contributed to his academic achievement. He lived by the philosophy that if he studied hard and behaved himself, he could live the good life. He recalls seeing a swimming pool when visiting someone’s home. “That’s fantastic!” he said. Another kid’s loft had an archery range. “That’s amazing!” he shouted. He’d never considered archery before. “It forced me to work hard and do something,” he explained.
Cochran earned his degree in insurance sales while working for his father’s company while he was attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and graduating in 1959. He decided to pursue a degree in law and enrolled at Loyola Marymount University in the autumn.
Cochran, who graduated from law school in 1963 and passed the California bar three years later, began working as a deputy city attorney in the criminal division for the city of Los Angeles. In 1965, he launched an own legal firm with Lenoir, a well-known Los Angeles criminal lawyer. He temporarily worked for Lenoir before forming Cochran, Atkins & Evans. The American Lawyer remembers Cochran. A controversial and exciting trial in The American Lawyer established Johnnie Cochran’s career. Working as a special assistant district attorney in the 1970s, he established a worldwide company that handles personal injury lawsuits. Since then, Cochran’s practice has grown to include over 100 attorneys and offices around the country.
Cochran denied being anti-police and supported his son Jonathan’s decision to join the California Highway Patrol. Jonathan Cochran was a distinguished member of the California Highway Patrol. In spite of this, he often engaged in legal battles with various police agencies.
The address of the Cochran Firm, which was in the same building as its predecessor, was a significant stride for Cochran. It was also a stride forward in his pursuit of justice for all Americans. Cochran believed that the fight for equal justice for all Americans was far from ended. He shifted his focus from police brutality to racial inequity in general, as well as in other aspects of society. In 2000, Cochran joined a team led by Cyrus Mehri in a lawsuit against Coca-Cola, alleging that the company was discriminatory to African-Americans in the workplace in a variety of ways. Cochran and Mehri did not stop there, instead looking at numerous industry titans such as Johnson & Johnson.