"At the extremely high risk of getting hammered"
I won't hammer you. I agree completely with you. I think O.J. is as guilty as sin but something happened during the investigation (though I definitely don't have your memory for the facts of the case).
Johnnie Cochran did his job. The American legal system needs defense lawyers, who (often) see their role as protecting individuals as a group from the power of the state.
I'm 100% sure Cochran NEVER asked O.J. if he did it. He didn't want to know, particularly if there was ever a possibility that O.J. might take the stand (and now I can't remember, did he take the stand?).
A lawyer cannot knowingly put forth perjured testimony so defense lawyers don't want to know if their client is actually guilty.
Yes, this is a moral gray area, to put it lightly. But the system counts on the checks and balances of the other side and the jury system to sort out who is truly guilty.
(and now I'm the one wondering if I'll get hammered, LOL!)
O.J. never took the stand in the criminal trial...but he was depositioned over a ten day period and later took the stand in the civil trial, where Dan Petrocelli (Fred Goldman's attorney) ripped O.J.'s alibi to shreds.
I just finished re-reading some O.J. trial books last week. Cochran skillfully played the race card in the criminal trial and got his acquittal, but set back race relations in this country thirty years, IMO.
Hear, hear! Cochran's job was to defend his client to the best of his abilities. You might not like his client or his client's crimes, but without an able defense, the system becomes rife with abuse -- spend some time in Mexico if you need to understand. Or consider the fact that Randy Weaver is walking around a free man today.
Cochran lied thru his teeth, had witnesses coached to lie thru their teeth.
He used the race card, asking the black jury to 'send a message'.
They sent a message alright. Forever juries that ignore the evidence are referred to as OJ juries.......not something of which to be proud.
A lawyer is charged with making sure his client gets a fair trial.....not charged with fabricating a case so his client avoids justice.