Johnnie Cochran is dead at 67

Johnny Cochran, who got O.J. Simpson off for two murders, has died at the age of 67, according to a CNN report.

CNN.com – Famed attorney Johnnie Cochran is dead at 67

Famed attorney Johnnie Cochran, 67, perhaps best known for his defense of O.J. Simpson, died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. “I loved him as a good Christian man; I look at Johnny as a great Christian,” Simpson told CNN. “I knew him as that. He was a great guy.”

Simpson said he last saw Cochran at an L.A. Lakers basketball game a few months ago and found the flamboyant lawyer to be in good spirits. “We were praying for him then, and I still am,” Simpson said.

Simpson added that he knew Cochran long before he hired the African-American lawyer to lead his ‘Dream Team’ defense. “I was in social circles with Johnnie and we knew each other in that way,” he said.

If the coffin fits, you must submit.

Update (3-30): Jim Treacher weighs in with, “If the tumor grows, you must decompose.” His commenters have several as well, including, “When the head stops hurtin’
Death is certain.”

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Michael says:

    “I was in social circles with Johnnie and we knew each other in that way,” he said. “And, you know, I tried to cut him once. Good times. Good times.”

  2. Rodney Dill says:

    “If the coffin fits, you’ll get an obit.”

  3. Joyse says:

    Cockran is dead, and Falwell. Alot of opinion will be submitted, and a fair bet not all would be favorable. These men did things we label as good and not so good. But they were human beings, probably doing the best they could. I wish them well on their journey, this their final journey. May the Universe bless them and keep them, May the Universe shine its light upon them and give them peace.

  4. Joyse says:

    I just realized Falwell is not dead. I repeat Falwell is NOT dead. So sorry bout that.

  5. Not to be morbid, but I wonder whether the U.S. Supreme Court will still issue an opinion on the prior restraint case before it involving Johnnie Cochran as a party. A trial court had enjoined one of Cochran’s former clients from speaking about Cochran and the Supreme Court was reviewing whether it was an unlawful prior restraint in violation of the First Amendment. Seems like a moot point now. Oh wait, I guess that was being morbid.

  6. Jon H says:

    I bet Cochran was also not being given food and water, and died the same way Terri Schiavo is going to.

    No protesters in front of his hospital, I bet.

  7. Lingster says:

    If the pupils don’t dilate, you must cremate!

  8. Jack Tanner says:

    ‘No protesters in front of his hospital, I bet.’

    He died at home.

    Johnny cochran actually had a very compelling rags to riches life story and was a great philanthropist. We’d be better off if a lot more black kids emulated him than the next NBA superendorsement billboard or the next gangstaploitation star.

  9. Rodney Dill says:

    Received last Habeas Corpus
    for Rigor mortis

  10. BH Reynolds says:

    Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., Esq. went — where Great People go.

  11. Ginger J says:

    Johnnie Cochran, a great man.

    Johnnie you were a strong man and played the game well.

    God bless and hold you in him arm.

  12. G. Harris says:

    Man born of a woman is only here for a few days. We all will have to do what Johnnie did, one day and that is die. God bless Johnnie to be a very successful black man. I am proud to have known of him… His family should be proud to have had him in their life… One day we all will close our eyes forever, keep living….