MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2005 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Representative Flaggs, Bailey, Broomfield, Buck, Burnett, Clark, Coleman (29th), Coleman (65th), Espy, Fredericks, Hines, Smith (27th), Johnson, Scott, Fleming, Perkins, Ellis

House Resolution 102

(As Adopted by House)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING THE LIFE AND EXCEPTIONAL CAREER OF JOHNNIE L. COCHRAN, JR., AND EXPRESSING DEEPEST SYMPATHY TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS UPON HIS PASSING.

     WHEREAS, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., born October 2, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr., and Hattie Bass Cochran, departed this earthly life on Tuesday, March 29, 2005, to enter into eternal rest with his Heavenly Father, causing great sorrow and loss to his family and friends; and

     WHEREAS, with a father and mother who stressed education, independence, and a color-blind attitude, Cochran earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1959, was accepted by the Loyola Marymount University School of Law, finished his law studies and passed the California bar by 1963; and

     WHEREAS, Cochran took his first job with the City of Los Angeles, serving as a Deputy City Attorney in the Criminal Division that same year and remained there as prosecutor, before entering private practice in 1965 with the late Gerald Lenoir and later forming his own firm, Cochran, Atkins & Evans; and

     WHEREAS, headline-grabbing cases quickly made Cochran's name among the Black community in Los Angeles, and by the late 1970s he was handling a number of police brutality and other criminal cases; and

     WHEREAS, Cochran established himself as "the best in the West," to quote Ebony magazine, and became the masterful attorney who gained prominence and worldwide fame for successfully defending football star, O.J. Simpson; and

     WHEREAS, resplendently tailored and silky-voiced, clever and genteel, Cochran came to epitomize the formidable litigator, sought after by the famous and wealthy, the obscure and struggling, all believing that they were victims of the system in one way or another; and

     WHEREAS, the course of Cochran's four-decade career zigzagged across the legal landscape, starting in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, where he eagerly prosecuted drunk-driving cases, and ending in a private practice that earned him wealth and fame; and

     WHEREAS, Cochran is survived by his wife, Dale Mason Cochran; son, Jonathan; daughters, Tiffany Cochran Edwards and Melodie Cochran; sisters, Pearl Baker and Martha Jean Sherrard; and father, Johnnie L. Cochran, Sr.; and

     WHEREAS, it is the policy of the House of Representatives to commend the lives of such a notable icon in the legal profession as Johnnie L. Cochran:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend the life of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., and express deepest sympathy to his family and friends upon his passing.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to the family of Mr. Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr., and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.