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R. I. P Johnnie Cochran (1 Viewer)

Kevin Alexander

Screenwriter
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Apr 17, 1999
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[sarcasm] Shame on you Edwin-S for having "British Columbia Canada" under your name. :laugh:[/sarcasm] Lighten up guys. Personally, I didn't find Edwin's comments offensive at all. If he said that he didn't mean it that way, we should believe him. Honestly though, Americans echo the exact same sentiments that you posted all the time. Few Americans, and even fewer than that if you're a black American male (like myself), could've gotten away w/ a double murder even if we had the money for high $$$ lawyers.
 

Michael Martin

Screenwriter
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Nov 26, 2000
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No. Even criminals have civil rights, and part of what makes this country great is that we allow them to ensure those rights aren't violated.

However, what makes me sick is that so many defense lawyers don't defend their clients, they attack the prosecution.

If Ms Jones the defense attorney knows her client is guilty and the prosecution has a solid case, her job is NOT to get her client acquitted, but to make sure their civil rights have not been violated or abused. While I hate hearing about criminals being let go "on a technicality," it's those technicalities that protect all of US (i.e., the non-criminals) from being similarly violated by the government.

I don't think defending per se is immoral. I think the "win at all costs" (especially when guilt is known and really not a questionable issue) mindset IS immoral and has hurt our legal system and culture.
 

Robert_Gaither

Screenwriter
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Mar 12, 2002
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What's sad though is one day a technological device will come out and we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt a person's guilt and it may be overturned by the fifth amendment.:frowning:
 

Joe Karlosi

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I'm certainly not going to let Blake's lawyer off the hook either, but I don't think many would disagree when I say that the evidence was nowhere near as overwhelming as it was in OJ's case. Nor was the trial as sensational.
 

AjayM

Screenwriter
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Aug 22, 2000
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JC won't let anymore killers go free (besides, the prosecution helped out MUCH mor than the defense in that regards), but then again that ignores the many (hundreds??) cases where he righted an injustice. But hey, let's not remember the man for all the good he's done, let's all concentrate on one case in a 40+ year career.
 

Joe Karlosi

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Well, it's the radio stations, TV, and newspapers that are headlining his death with references exclusively to the "OJ Simpson Case" and that bogus "glove" catchphrase that he coined.
 

AjayM

Screenwriter
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Every news story I've read and every TV bit I've seen has made mention to more than just the OJ case, but it wouldn't suprise me if that is all that is mentioned since that's the case that made him infamous.

Today's LA Times:


[AN ENTIRE ARTICLE *AND* SIDEBAR ELIMINATED BY ADMIN (THIS ONE BEING JB). PLEASE USE A LINK ONLY AND JUST QUOTE EXCERPTS FROM THE STORY IN YOUR POST.]
 

Jason Adams

Supporting Actor
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Aug 30, 2002
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Roger Jason Adams


People are easily amused by phrases. But let the man frickin die in peace. He did so much more then "let a killer go free." :rolleyes:See above post.
 

Corbin Stirn

Second Unit
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Dec 22, 1999
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I became friends with 3 law students during the early 90s. I learned an AWFUL lot about the way the system works. A lot of people in here are being EXTREMELY judgemental due to 1 case Cochran had. That OJ case was all about emotion and different perspectives. I was dating a black lady at the time and trust me, I really despised Cochran back then. I had quite a few arguements about that case with her and learned a lot about perspective. Looking back at everything a couple of years later and after numerous discussions with my (NOW)Lawyer friends, the man did his job and did it very well.


Everyone hates lawyers until they get into trouble....then they want the meanest, nastiest SOB(IN COURT!) they can find. People may not like that fact of life, but it IS a fact. Cochran had the misfortune of taking probably the highest profile case ever in the last 50 years(not ever...."the monkey trial" of Scopes-V-Darrow and the Lindbergh baby were bigger) and WINNING. I hated the race card that seemed like it was pulled out by him.....but there were 2 white ladies on that jury. They could have hung the jury so easily it would make people's heads spin....but they came back in a extraordinarily short amount of time and also said NOT GUILTY. Was OJ guilty? I know my own opinion as a white male on OJs guilt, but that's another discussion. Let's not forget that the media also focused on the "race" factor....not on the fact of how lousy a job the DA AND LAPD did and how good a job Mr. Cochran did. Castigating someone for doing their job in such an exemplary way that it pisses people off becuase they're almost TOO good at it...sounds the good old USA to me at times. The man did an awful lot for a LOT of people, righted quite a few wrongs that even until today I was unaware of, and was a decent human being to boot. Let's not forget that he went along with all the lampooning and barbs that flew his way afterward. He realized that the case, rightly or wrongly due to the media scrutiny, polarized a lot of the country along a racial fault line. The fact that he accepted the jokes and characatures good-naturedly helped alleviate some of the anger that was associated with this case. In that regard, he deserves an acknowledgement for taking a lot of anger wrongly directed at him because of other individual's incompetence and his competence. RIP Mr. Cochran Your largely unknown "other" leagacy speaks more about you than 1 celebrated case.
 

Joe Karlosi

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Absolutely... But one spot of 'trouble' I'll never let myself get in is to deliberately plan and execute a murder.
 

Grant B

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Good words Corbin.
I think he clearly tried to reign in the police that played the race card daily more than defend OJ. But hey I am an engineer not a lawyer

Back many years ago I almost died in an accident in LA: the police admitted they took their time since they assumed everyone was already dead but I got out alive
A couple of days later I was going in and out of coma and kept turning on the TV.... on every channel there was a white Bronco and I kept thinking to myself ..."Boy I must be hallucinating, why would they show that on every channel"

Boy what timing
 

Jan Strnad

Screenwriter
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Jan 1, 1999
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Many mixed emotions about Cochran here in L.A., including my own. Life's like that. People don't fall easily into the categories of "good" and "evil" defined by comic books and videogames.

Overall, Cochran's was a distinguished career. RIP.

Jan
 

Shane Martin

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Ajay and anyone else,
I saw a nice piece on Cochran on BET tonight while flipping channels. It was very informative and well done.
 

Cees Alons

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Cees Alons
Fair enough.
But now imagine you're suddenly in a position where you are suspected and accused of one and finally brought to court.


Cees
 

Joe Karlosi

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Yes, very true. And I would certainly want the greatest defense lawyer I could find -- but in such a situation, I'd expect the truth would speak for itself, without any need for the defense attorney to pull any false strings and make up all sorts of other allegations against other people in order to make me appear not guilty.
 

Holadem

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:laugh: Your naivete is astounding. If the truth spoke for itself, you wouldn't be in that situation to begin with.

"I'd expect the truth would speak for itself," - Sorry, but this just made my day.

--
H
 

Joe Karlosi

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Don't look at me. Cees was the one who proposed: "suppose you were suspected and accused of a murder and brought into court?". I assume he meant if I was actually innocent. In such a situation, there would be no fancy "tricks" necessary to establish my true innocence. And I'd also presume my defense attorney actually believed I was Not Guilty -- not like Cochran who knew full well that OJ was a double murderer and tried to get him off anyway. There's a big difference between a lawyer defending a wrongly convicted man and a lawyer accepting an assignment for helping an obvious killer like Simpson walk.

Thanks for making my day :D
 

Joe Karlosi

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Robert - If you'll notice, I made an error and changed it to "Cees". Sorry for that, but it's just that sometimes those "Administrator" tags run together in my mind.
 

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