Interviewee: Johnnie Cochran
Interviewer: Verna Smith
Date: March 31, 2003

Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., born on October 2, 1937, was one of the distinguished Africa-American lawyers in the United States. He accomplished his undergraduate degree at the UCLA and obtained a law degree at Loyola Marymount University School of Law in Los Angeles, California.

Thurgood Marshall and the legal victory he won in Brown v. Board of Education inspired Cochran’s commitment to his work as a lawyer. Since then, he has had many celebrity and well-known clients from the music and film industry.

It was O.J. Simpson’s dramatic murder trial that made Johnnie Cochran even more famous. It was during the trial that Cochran said the now famous line “[I]f it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” Cochran was persuading the jury that his client couldn’t have done killed Ronald Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson as the gloves used by the murderer did not fit his client. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.

He used to say that he wanted to work for people who didn’t have much in terms of riches or fame; that his efforts were “not only for the OJs, but also the No Js.” Despite his humility, he was still hired by numerous people, especially the affluent personalities like Michael Jackson and Sean Combs.

Johnnie Cochran represented Michael Jackson, a singer-songwriter and pop icon, in a case of child harassment allegations.

He also defended Sean Combs, better known as rapper P. Diddy, after Combs was indicted of stolen weapon charges and bribery. With an effective and strong defense, Cochran and Combs won the case and the rapper earned an acquittal.

On March 29, 2005, Johnnie Cochran lost his battle with brain cancer. Former NBA star Magic Johnson said that Cochran was famous for defending Michael Jackson and O.J. Simpson, “but he was bigger and better than that.”