Johnnie Cochran, Jr.
Johnnie Cochran, Jr., died March 29, 2005 from an inoperable brain tumor. His family and law firm issued this statement: "Johnnie's career will be noted as one marked by celebrity cases and clientele. But he and his family were most proud of the work he did on behalf of those in the community.
"As Johnnie always said, 'An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'* It was his rallying cry as he worked to right many wrongs, and as he provided a voice to those who needed to be heard. He was deeply committed to helping and inspiring others, especially young people."
Johnnie Cochran began his career in the LA's District Attorney's office, and he started his own firm and became noted for fighting police misconduct. In 1990, he was Michael Jackson's attorney and developed the settlement in the first of Michael Jackson's child sex abuse cases. He defended the late Tupac Shakur of sexual-assault charges. He became a celebrity attorney for many celebrities after his O. J. Simpson defense case. He defended Snoop Dogg against murder charges in 1995. And he also defended P. Diddy of charges from a 1999 nightclub shooting.Johnnie Cochran Jr., was born October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, as the great-grandson of an African-American slave. He grew up in a stable and prosperous family, with a father and mother who stressed education, independence, and a color-blind attitude. While Cochran was still young, the family moved to Los Angeles, and he attended public schools there, earning excellent grades. Although his father had a good job with the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, Cochran always managed to find friends who had more money and more luxuries than he did. "If you were a person who integrated well, as I was, you got to go to people's houses and envision another life." [The American Lawyer]
He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California in 1959, supporting himself by selling insurance policies for his father's company. He was accepted by the Loyola Marymount University School of Law and began his studies there in the autumn of 1959. He passed the California bar by 1963, and began practicing law as an assistant DA. But it was in 1966 that his career took shape; In May of that year, a young black man named Leonard Deadwyler was killed by the police as he tried to rush his pregnant wife to the hospital. Cochran represented Deadwyler's family, in the wrongful death of Deadwyler. From that case he became unknown for his suits against the police. The O.J. Simpson took him into national prominence. His name became a household name.
Compile by Gibbs
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* A statement taken from "A Letter From A
Birmingham Jail." [MLK,Jr.]
