RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Johnnie Cochran dead at 67.

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the G-man said:
Was Cochran to some extent a cynical opportunist who exploited the O.J. case, and racial tensions in L.A., in order to get his client off?

Sure.

On the other hand, if the prosecution in that case hadn't been remarkably incompetent, it wouldn't have mattered.

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Don't bother us with trifles like the truth!

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the G-man said:
What's wrong with defending murderers?

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Pig Iron said:
I'll explain..

Chef hears a song that Cartman can't get out his head and Chef
says that he wrote that song over twenty years ago. When Chef and the
boys visit the record company, the record company says they are going
to sue him. Capitalist Records hires Johnny Cochran, who uses the
Chewbacca defense, the same defense that he used in the Simpson trial.


"Chewbacca is a wookie from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on
the planet Endor. Now think about that; that does not make sense. Why
would a wookie, an 8 foot tall wookie, want to live on Endor with a
bunch of two foot tall ewoks? That does not make sense! But more
importantly, you have to ask yourself, what does that have to do with
this case?' Nothing. Ladies and Gentlemen, it has nothing to do with
this case. It does not make sense!"

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rex said:
Is it too much to ask that this happens to jesse jackson next?

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The Rev. Al Sharpton's phone began ringing in New York on Tuesday afternoon, the day after the May 9 shooting that wounded a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy and the driver of a cornered SUV and shattered windows and walls of homes.

By Wednesday, the renowned law enforcement critic was in Los Angeles, calling the barrage "the shootout at the OK Corral." Activist circles buzzed with rumors that the Rev. Jesse Jackson would be coming to town.

Los Angeles County seemed poised once again to stand in the eyes of the nation as the epicenter of police brutality.

But county Sheriff Lee Baca had been making his rounds too. By noon Monday, less than 12 hours after the shooting, he had offered this blunt critique: "I know there were too many shots fired. I don't need an investigation to tell me that."

By 3 a.m. Tuesday, Baca was dressed and ready for appearances on "Good Morning America," the "Today" show and news programs on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. For the next 90 minutes, he was live on national TV promising a thorough review of the shooting, which followed an early morning, low-speed chase through residential streets.

The next afternoon, Baca began walking door to door in Compton, tallying bullet holes and offering apologies. Sharpton met up with him there.

That night, the sheriff took the stage at a town hall meeting offering residents compensation for homes damaged in the shooting spree.

Taking a cue from their leader, the deputies involved offered a striking public apology Friday.

By Saturday morning, while activists were busy urging residents to turn out for a Monday rally, Baca had managed to deflect community anger and keep agitators at bay. He did it by borrowing a page from activists' own handbook — denouncing the shootings, ordering an inquiry and meeting with residents to, as he says, "absorb their pain."

The shooting involved 10 deputies trying to stop the unarmed driver of an SUV. The investigation may not be complete for weeks, but one thing has become clear: Baca's response represents a new approach to handling the fallout from controversial shootings. And it has left community activists scrambling to compete.

They had expected stonewalling, denials, delay. Instead they got a contrite sheriff and a multiracial corps of apologetic deputies, who stood somberly before news cameras while their attorney conveyed "their unqualified and sincere apology to those who … were affected by the shooting."

Although they stopped short of saying that their tactics toward a man they had believed to be armed and dangerous were wrong, the symbolism proved compelling.

Then Jackson, who had arrived in Los Angeles that weekend, called the shooting a hate crime and an act of terrorism.

Local activists were forced back on their heels, caught between the fiery rhetoric of Jackson and Sharpton and the evolving reality on the streets: Only a handful of people showed up at what was supposed to be a protest Monday morning.

Najee Ali of Project Islamic HOPE contemplated what to say to the lone news camera.

"How would it look for us to be up there now slamming these deputies," he said as he stood on a sidewalk outside Compton City Hall, considering whether he should instead criticize Jackson.

When the camera rolled, Ali was on cue. "An apology is not enough," he said. "We're outraged and will continue to be."

Privately, he had already conceded that in the court of public opinion, Baca had probably scored a victory.

Jackson's "hate crime" characterization seemed out of sync with reality. Of the 10 deputies who fired weapons, three were black, four Latino and three white.

By that afternoon, Ali had split ranks with Jackson. The civil rights leader's comments were, he said, "inflammatory, counterproductive and false."

"He'll say this stuff, then go on back to Chicago, and we're left here to try to work with these officers," Ali complained later.

Indeed, within days, Jackson and Sharpton were gone, headed for Mexico to meet with President Vicente Fox over remarks he had made about blacks that were considered disparaging.


Sheriff's New Tactic on Shooting: Contrition

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