Johnnie Cochran Judicial Debate Thread

[MrMacphisto]

Hmmm... could it be... Karma?

 

[WorkInProgress]

Karma? I don't really know what for. Thing is, if you believe in the American criminal justice system, then part of what you're believing in is the accused person's right to a defense lawyer. And a defense lawyer, in order to be worth having at all, needs to be a defense lawyer who is truly committed to getting the defendant acquitted, and who thus will use whatever strategy is likely to work. In the case of his defense of O.J. Simpson, I truly think that Cochran got criticized for merely knowing how to do his job. Painting Simpson's arrest as a racist frame-up, given the circumstances of American racial history, was not "playing the race card," it was simply being a good lawyer rather than a bad one. Moreover, in his closing remarks to the jury, Cochran's emphasis was in the flaws in the prosecution's evidence. I've heard people say that he appealed to black voters to acquit Simpson because he was black, but that simply isn't true. In sum, Johnnie Cochran was, pure and simple, a professional who knew how to do his job. He pulled some shenanigans in court, to be sure, shenanigans which he wouldn't have been able to get away with if the judge had been the one Michael Jackson has, but even so, the nature of his defense strategy was a simple matter of knowing how to do his job. His job was to try to get Simpson acquitted, every bid as much as it was Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden's job to try to get him convicted. No matter what you think of a defendant and his crime, you can't blame the defense attorney for doing the job of a defense attorney and being good at it.

 

[kis123]

Hello Mac,

No, it isn't karma as you suggest. It's about a man who outsmarted clumsy and pitiful police and forced all involved to look at the law. I, an African American female, feel OJ was guilty as sin. The evidence was poorly collected and preserved. That has nothing to do with him personally. It only meant that he was phenominal at his job even if it meant letting a guilty jackass go free.

Karma has nothing to do with it. He died from a brain tumor, nothing more, nothing less. It's between him and God now....

 

[MrMacphisto]

I'm sorry, but if this guy was white, you wouldn't be as forgiving of his "shenanigans" during O.J.'s case. How's that for a race card?

 

[MrMacphisto]

Karma? I don't really know what for. Thing is, if you believe in the American criminal justice system, then part of what you're believing in is the accused person's right to a defense lawyer. And a defense lawyer, in order to be worth having at all, needs to be a defense lawyer who is truly committed to getting the defendant acquitted, and who thus will use whatever strategy is likely to work. In the case of his defense of O.J. Simpson, I truly think that Cochran got criticized for merely knowing how to do his job. Painting Simpson's arrest as a racist frame-up, given the circumstances of American racial history, was not "playing the race card," it was simply being a good lawyer rather than a bad one.

Alright, ven, I'll leave the man's memory alone, but this is just a tidbit I couldn't resist....

Justice and system should rarely, if ever, be used in the same sentence. I believe in the rights of the accused, but I also believe that sometimes being a good lawyer is no different than being a good lier. I admit that Cochran was just doing his job, but you have to question the nature of a system that supposedly promotes justice by essentially getting people to out-lie each other. I remember watching "A Civil Action" when Travolta's character said something like "In civil suits, the side that comes to their senses first loses." It's this kind of bullshit that keeps me from believing in our justice system, not to mention the fact that we execute people that are sometimes found to be innocent later. We don't have a justice system; we just have a convenient way to keep people from killing each other as often as they would without restrictions.

 

[kis123]

I'm sorry, but if this guy was white, you wouldn't be as forgiving of his "shenanigans" during O.J.'s case. How's that for a race card?

I thought OJ was guilty as hell and I still think so. He had the only real motive in the case. The fact of the matter was Johnnie Cochran was smarter than the LA police department, which I hear isn't very hard to achieve.

Just because I'm a black woman who is well aware how black men are mistreated in the justice system as opposed to whites with similar crimes, don't think I'm naive, blind, and ignore the facts. I'm able to think for myself and don't run with the masses. Anyone with two eyes and ears knows he did it! The prosecution simply couldn't bring it to the jury!

Besides, this never had anything to do with race. A mother of two and her friend were savagely killed. It doesn't matter if they were black, white, or anything else. The prosecution could not provide burden of proof with tainted evidence and corrupted cops gunning for Simpson. They should've just let the case run its course instead of trying to help it out with their "shenanigans."

Let's talk about some of those shenanigans, shall we? You have a bloody glove that Simpson puts on for the court-did it fit? NO! You have crackhead prosecution witnesses bent on getting famous at his expense (Cado Kalen). You have a corrupt and racist cop that got busted for screwing around with the evidence (Furman). If anyone pulled shenanigans, it was on the side of the prosecution, not the defense. Once again, Cochran played a better game and brought it to the jury better than the prosecution.

Don't blame Cochran for doing a better job than the prosecution and the police. This has NOTHING to do with race!

 

[Oddjob0226]

I'm sorry, but if this guy was white, you wouldn't be as forgiving of his "shenanigans" during O.J.'s case. How's that for a race card?

White like Robert Shapiro & F. Lee Bailey?

 

[HappyHands]

One less...

Well it's a good start, now if only some one would curse Blake's deffence team we might have a good trend going.

 

[WorkInProgress]

>> I'm sorry, but if this guy was white, you wouldn't
>> be as forgiving of his "shenanigans" during O.J.'s
>> case. How's that for a race card?


I'm a white man, and I happen to see no truth at all in the assertion that it's blacks who have more leeway to get away with shenanigans. You word your statement as if it were minimal common sense, but I happen to view it as false. (I hesitated to write this because I know the danger of opening up the same kind of can of worms that makes more work for the forum moderators, but I did want to go on record as disagreeing with that view.)

 

[MrMacphisto]

I thought OJ was guilty as hell and I still think so. He had the only real motive in the case. The fact of the matter was Johnnie Cochran was smarter than the LA police department, which I hear isn't very hard to achieve.

Just because I'm a black woman who is well aware how black men are mistreated in the justice system as opposed to whites with similar crimes, don't think I'm naive, blind, and ignore the facts. I'm able to think for myself and don't run with the masses. Anyone with two eyes and ears knows he did it! The prosecution simply couldn't bring it to the jury!

Besides, this never had anything to do with race. A mother of two and her friend were savagely killed. It doesn't matter if they were black, white, or anything else. The prosecution could not provide burden of proof with tainted evidence and corrupted cops gunning for Simpson. They should've just let the case run its course instead of trying to help it out with their "shenanigans."

Let's talk about some of those shenanigans, shall we? You have a bloody glove that Simpson puts on for the court-did it fit? NO! You have crackhead prosecution witnesses bent on getting famous at his expense (Cado Kalen). You have a corrupt and racist cop that got busted for screwing around with the evidence (Furman). If anyone pulled shenanigans, it was on the side of the prosecution, not the defense. Once again, Cochran played a better game and brought it to the jury better than the prosecution.

Don't blame Cochran for doing a better job than the prosecution and the police. This has NOTHING to do with race!

The case had nothing to do with race until Cochran used that as OJ's defense.

 

[MrMacphisto]

White like Robert Shapiro & F. Lee Bailey?

Exactly... Do you see people talking highly of F. Lee Bailey or Shapiro? Most people I know think they are scum, just like they feel the same about Cochran.

 

[MrMacphisto]

>> I'm sorry, but if this guy was white, you wouldn't
>> be as forgiving of his "shenanigans" during O.J.'s
>> case. How's that for a race card?


I'm a white man, and I happen to see no truth at all in the assertion that it's blacks who have more leeway to get away with shenanigans. You word your statement as if it were minimal common sense, but I happen to view it as false. (I hesitated to write this because I know the danger of opening up the same kind of can of worms that makes more work for the forum moderators, but I did want to go on record as disagreeing with that view.)

I'm only saying that RICH blacks have more leeway to get away with shenanigans. If O.J. had been a poor black man with no fame, he'd be deader than Jeffrey Dahmer. Cochran realized the easy way out of the case involved race and O.J.'s fame, but I admit that the LAPD is one of the most pathetic law enforcement agencies in the whole country. The prosecution already had several things against them in the investigation, and the jury was made up of fucking morons.

If even the Dave Chappelle Show parodies the absurdity of the O.J. case, then I would assume that it is common sense that this trial was severely botched. While I realize that most black people don't have the advantage in our justice system, it's a shame that the majority of the black community was foolish enough to support O.J. back during the trial. If they had gathered more support for say... Rodney King, it would have been more understandable, but people tend to support celebrities more than the common man.

Anyway, yeah, Cochran was a good lawyer, but I have to question his character.... (to put it mildly)

 

[red indian]

I'm just a Brit........

....and have no business intruding on private grief but, I cant believe this thread has got this far without some mention of the "chewbackka defense".

 

[TKpervert]

Actually, it's 'Chewbacca'. Credit Google for giving me that spelling.

O.J. got off because the jury box was populated with broccoli sprouts.

If the DA has nothing better to offer than Marcia Clark as a prosecutor, more cases like this will be lost.

I'm sad Johnnie died, he was doing his job.

No comment on all the race shit.

 

[kis123]

OJ got off for several reasons:

A corrupt police department who should have left the evidence alone

A racist and corrupt police officer who got in the way

So called "friends" who wanted fame and notariety at the victims' expense

Ron Goldman's reputation with drug dealing

A defense lawyer who used every trick in the book (which is what all of them do)

A weak prosecution

The LA police opened the door for the "race card" to be played with their history of racism and violence against blacks. I would've used it too if I was a sleezy defense lawyer (which is what most of them are).