Famed OJ lawyer Johnnie Cochran dies

LOS ANGELES:  Johnnie L Cochran Jr, the charismatic attorney who became famous in the successful defence of football star OJ Simpson on murder charges, died yesterday in Los Angeles of a brain tumor, spokespeople said. Cochran began his career as a crusader against police abuses, often in cases involving black clients, but he is best known for the trial that won a controversial acquittal for Simpson on murder charges in 1995.

Simpson was accused of murder in the June 12, 1994 stabbing deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman, and was acquitted despite what prosecutors described as a “mountain of evidence” against him. In one of the defining moments of the trial, Simpson appeared unable to put on a pair of gloves connected to the double murder. Cochran famously admonished the jury, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.” A statement from his family and law firm said he died at 12.30 pm Pacific time. Funeral arrangements would be announced at a later date.