Johnnie Cochran And The Murder Of Geronimo Pratt

Johnnie Cochran was born on October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana. He, and his family, moved to California in 1943. He went to college at the University of California and Loyola Marymount University Law School. He worked in Los Angeles as a deputy criminal prosecutor until he made his own firm. Cochran’s first major case was for the wife of Leonard Deadwyler. Leonard Deadwyler was speeding on the way to the hospital for his pregnant wife. He was pulled over and then killed by a police officer. The widow hired Cochran after she sued Los Angeles for her husband’s death. Unfortunately, Cochran and Deadwyler did lose the case, but it inspired Johnnie Cochran to take on more cases against police brutality. This case helped him gain attention and a reputation in the black community. Another one of Cochran’s cases involving the police, was the death of Ron Settles. He was arrested in 1981 by the Signal Hill Police Department. The next day, after he was arrested, he was found in a jail cell beaten and hanging. Cochran represented Ron Settles’ family and they won the case. Settles’ death was very controversial and helped change how the police dealt with arrests. One of Cochran’s most successful cases was for Geronimo Pratt. Pratt was a member of the Black Panther Party and accused for the murder of Caroline Olsen. Pratt ended up serving 27 years

Simpson was arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. Simpson said he was innocent and hired Cochran along with Robert Shapiro, Alan Dershowitz, F. Lee Bailey, Barry Scheck, and Robert Kardashian. This group of lawyers was called the “dream team” in what was considered the “trial of the century”. Cochran was the leader during the trial and set up a strong defense for Simpson. He challenged the evidence and pointed out that one of the investigating police officers, Mark Fuhrman, had a history of being racist. In the end, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty for the