Who was Johnnie Cochran and what was his cause of death?
JOHNNIE Cochran became known as the go-to lawyer for the rich and famous in the 1980s and 90s, culminating in what many consider to be one of the most popular – and polarizing – murder trials in the nation.
Just one decade before Johnnie Cochran passed away, he became a household name, known for his leading role in the defense and ultimate acquittal of OJ Simpson’s murder trial against his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman.
Who was Johnnie Cochran?
Johnnie Cochran was an attorney, known for representing some of the nation’s most famous actors, athletes, and musicians in the 1980s and 1990s.
Cochran was born on October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana.
His father, Johnnie Cochran Sr., was an insurance salesman, while his mother, Hattie B. Cochran, sold makeup, cosmetics, and skin care products for Avon.
In 1949, during the second wave of the Great Migration, which involved more than six million Black Americans moving from the rural south, his family moved to California, eventually settling down in Los Angeles.
Cochran graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955, the first of his class, and later went on to earn a degree in business economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
After graduating college in 1959, Cochran went on to earn his Juris Doctor from the Loyola Law School in 1962.
He was reportedly inspired to pursue a law career after seeing – and being inspired by – Thurgood Marshall’s legal victory in Brown v. Board of Education.
After passing the California bar exam in 1963, Cochran became a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles.
He eventually opened his own firm, Cochran, Atkins & Evans, a few years later.
By the late 1970s, Cochran had established himself as a reputable lawyer in the Black community, litigating high-profile criminal and police brutality cases.
In 1978, he left his practice for a position as the First Assistant District Attorney in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
In the early 1980s, however, he returned to private practice, opening the Johnnie L Cochran Jr. law firm, and began calling himself “the best in the West,” when it came to legal representation.
What was Johnnie Cochran’s cause of death?
Johnnie Cochran was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2003.
After undergoing surgery in April 2004, Cochran shied away from the spotlight, spending his time with family and close friends.
He reportedly hosted friends at his Los Feliz home, vacationed in Italy, and continued to make plans for the future of his practice.
On March 29, 2005, he died from “a malignant, golfball-sized” brain tumor at his home in Los Angeles.
He was surrounded by his wife, Dale Mason, his father, “The Chief” aka Johnnie Cochran Sr., his brother-in-law, Bill Baker, his son, Jonathan, and his daughters, Melody and Tiffany.
Tiffany recalled her father walking her down the aisle at her 2004 summer wedding.
“He did it as only my dad could – with grace and style, elegance and his signature smile,” Tiffany Cochran Edwards said, as reported by the New York Post.
A memorial service was held on April 6, 2005, and his remains were interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
His funeral was attended by many of his friends and former clients, including OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson.
“He was confident, humble, capable, generous – and he always erred on the side of what’s best for the client,” Keith Givens, Cochran’s friend and an Alabama lawyer who ran his expanding practice, said.
“He left a tremendous legacy,” he added.
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