Johnnie Cochran Quotations

We've got to be judged by how we do in times of crisis

If it doen't make sense, you should find for the defense.

Money will determine whether the accused goes to prison or walks out of the courtroom a free man.

I'm a big believer in the fact that life is about preparation, preparation, preparation.

In this room we're all here together, but there's probably a lot of different views, people sitting here thinking, I don't own any slaves, all the slaves are dead. Why am I responsible? My family were immigrants, too.

Since the Puffy Combs case in New York, I will not try any more criminal cases

Jurors want courtroom lawyers to have some compassion and be nice.

I understand about this idea of terror and what it means to Americans and this idea that we can't just walk around free like we did; life has changed.

An opening statement is like a guide or a road map. It's a very delicate thing.

The president appoints the judges. Your lives and your children's lives can change by all of these appellate court judges who will be appointed who will reinterpret laws, and things can change.

If you commit perjury in a so-called first-degree murder case, and you're caught red-handed for the entire world to see, and you get only a $200 fine, what kind of message does that send about lying in our courts?

Black jurors sit on juries every day and convict black people every day.

I decided I wanted to be a lawyer when I was 11 years of age.

I'm from the South, where if you walk down the street and there's somebody behind you talking with a Southern accent, you can't tell whether it's a black or a white person.

On January 10, 1963, I was sworn in as a lawyer, so next January 10 I will have practiced law for 40 years, and I've loved every minute of it.

What he's doing is violating attorney-client privilege in this whole situation and I'm not sure he fully understands or comprehends the import of what he's doing,

The only mention I'll make of the Simpson case is that it provided a sea-change for all of our lives. I'm still the same lawyer as I was before, but the opportunities were somewhat different and I was asked to move to New York, at least part of the time, to do a television show.

Nobody has had the courage to say this is wrong. You are empowered to say this is wrong ... Stop this cover-up! Stop this cover-up!

Nobody has had the courage to say this is wrong,

Nothing is going to clear his client of what took place here, ... He will never be able to explain a 16-year-old, or any person, in custody slammed on the police car, punched in the face when he's helpless. There is no explanation for that.

But that's who Michael Jackson is, he's a very, very naive person in many respects, and there's no question about that. Yeah, he does wear a bull's eye,

If I put this knit cap on, who am I?

Fuhrman thought to himself, 'I'm going to get that guy ... and in '94 he had his chance.'

Fuhrman is a nightmare, but he's America's nightmare, not just black people's nightmare. And everybody needs to understand that.

He is central to the prosecution, and for them to say he's not important is untrue, and you will not fall for it because as guardians of justice, you can't let it happen.

He's at home now, I think, and he's planning the rest of his life.

has not reached the level where it is admissible in criminal courts.

Mark Fuhrman is a lying, perjuring genocidal racist, and from that moment on, anytime he could get O.J. Simpson he would do it.

I think one of the reasons ... and we're seeing it more and more, had to do with the LAPD and its credibility -- you know, what Chris (Darden) had to work with,

Judge, the tapes are sickening, and you know...I don't know so much about conflict, but there is certain parts about Lt. York that I tell you what the real problem may be, even more than this, and this is a very delicate issue and I don't want to talk about this out here. It is going to have to do with credibility, because, you know, her declaration... this guy, unless he is absolutely lying... and Marcia will back me up on this, the contacts he has with Lt. York are the kind that are very hard to forget him.

We proved that the most important evidence against O.J. Simpson had supposedly been found in unusual places by a thoroughly racist LAPD detective-a detective who had been caught on audiotapes made years earlier admitting the LAPD planted evidence-a detective who for some unknown reason had been present in places he had no legitimate reason to be.

When I first started practicing law in the 1960s, no person had ever won a case against the City of Los Angeles for violation of their civil rights. There came a time when I felt morally I just could not try these cases anymore. I then left the office and my time in private practice has been interesting to say the least.

It was time in America for African Americans to take retribution for the legal crimes that had been committed against them for almost three centuries.

It was about 10:25 p.m. on June 12, 1994, right?,

These were tragic deaths. I think that people don't understand that we, on the defense, felt that very strongly also.

The one problem that I would like for him to be aware of ... Bob Shapiro had started talking about Fuhrman planting the glove long before I ever came on the case. And, in fact, we never played any race card. What we did was pursue the credibility card.

They're going to be talking about life since the verdict, ... It's kind of appropriate to review that.

O.J. Simpson always said he didn't do it.

As you know, we are on the verge of resting, but I think we are going to have to re-evaluate that.

If it doesn't make sense, you should find for the defense.

I want to describe myself, not be described by others.

If it does not fit, you must acquit.

If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.