American Crime Story (TV Series)

The Verdict (2016)

Courtney B. Vance: Johnnie Cochran

Photos 

Quotes 

• Johnnie Cochran : [trying to make amends after the verdict]  I appreciate how hard you fought. Especially that closing. This was war, and you did a superb job. I respect that. I... I know how difficult this has been on you. And when the dust settles, I'd like to help bring you back in to the community.

  Christopher Darden : Hmmm... well I never left. You think I don't understand the situation? I get it. It's payback. O.J.'s the first black defendant in history to get off because he's black.

  Johnnie Cochran : The people will see who the police really are...

  Christopher Darden : [interrupting]  All the people saw was how well you can twist the system. This isn't some civil rights milestone. Police in this country will keep arresting us, keep beating us, keep killing us. You haven't changed anything for black people here. Unless, of course, you're a famous, rich one in Brentwood.

• Johnnie Cochran : [repeated throughout his closing statement]  If it doesn't fit... you must acquit.

• [Cochran and Darden meet in private, after the verdict] 

  Johnnie Cochran : Got a minute? I... I appreciate how hard you fought. Especially that closing. This was war. And you did a superb job. I respect that. I... I know how difficult this has been on you. And when the dust settles... I'd like to help bring you back into the community.

  Christopher Darden : Hmm. Well, I never left. You think I don't understand the situation? I get it. It's payback. O.J.'s the first black defendant in history to get off because he's black.

  Johnnie Cochran : The people will see who the police really are...

  Christopher Darden : All the people saw was how well you can twist the system. This isn't some civil rights milestone. Police in this country will keep arresting us, keep beating us, keep killing us. You haven't changed anything for black people here.

  [beat] 

  Christopher Darden : Unless, of course, you're a famous, rich one in Brentwood.

• Judge Lance Ito : Mr. Cochran, it is my understanding that you have discussed with your client his right to testify.

  Johnnie Cochran : Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Simpson is waiving his right. But if the court pleases, he would like to make a brief statement regarding the waiver.

  Marcia Clark : Your Honor, the People object to the defendant making any statement other than the waiver at this time.

  Judge Lance Ito : Counsel, he's not before the jury.

  Marcia Clark : Yes, but we are all aware of the realities of this case, the problem with conjugal visits and telephone calls that are only monitored on one side. This is an obvious attempt by the defense to get material to the jury that has not been admitted in court. It is inappropriate and deliberate. I strongly urge the court to exercise control and not permit testimony without cross-examination. Please, Your Honor, don't do this.

  Johnnie Cochran : My goodness. There's a great deal of fear of the truth in this case. Your Honor, this is still America. Can we still talk?

  Judge Lance Ito : All right, go ahead, Mr. Simpson, briefly.

  O.J. Simpson : [stands]  Good morning, Your Honor. As much as I'd like to address some of the misrepresentations made about myself and my Nicole, concerning our life together, I am mindful of the mood and the stamina of this jury. I am confident, a lot more it seems than Miss Clark, about their integrity, and that they will find, as it now stands, that I did not and could not and would not commit this crime. I have four kids. Two kids I haven't seen in a year. And every week they ask me, "Dad, when are you coming home? How much longer?"

  Marcia Clark : [clears throat]  All right...

  O.J. Simpson : I just want this trial to be over.

  Judge Lance Ito : All right, thank you, Mr. Simpson.

  O.J. Simpson : Thank you, Your Honor.

  Marcia Clark : You want to address misrepresentations about you and Nicole? Take a seat in the blue chair and we can have a discussion.

  [O.J. quickly shakes his head no] 

• [Johnnie Cochran's final statements] 

  Johnnie Cochran : At the outset... let me just say that not one bit of domestic violence is tolerable. O.J. Simpson is not proud of some of the things that happened during his marriage. Does that add up to murder? No. Mr. Darden talked about 1985, but he missed the whole point. Something interesting happened in 1985. Mark Fuhrman responded to a call on Rockingham. He saw a white woman married to a powerful black man. He didn't like that. He didn't like that. Because he's a hardened racist. Mark Fuhrman is the one who said, "If I see an interracial couple, I'm gonna stop them. If I don't have a reason, I'm gonna make something up." So you have a lying Mark Fuhrman, the personification of evil, who found the gloves. But don't be fooled. This isn't just one officer. Mark Fuhrman represents the entire LAPD. Now, you may not know this, but you are empowered. Your decision has a major implication both in this courtroom and outside of it. Things happen for a reason in life. Maybe that's why we're gathered together. Something in your background, your character, helps you to know that this is wrong. Maybe you're the right people at the right time to say, "No more. We can't have this!" O.J. Simpson is entitled to an acquittal. They have entrusted this case to a man who says he'd like to see all niggers gathered together and killed. That is *genocide*. That man speaks like *Adolf Hitler*. Now, since you can't trust the man and you can't trust the People, is it any wonder, in the defining moment in this trial, when they asked O.J. Simpson to try on the glove and the glove didn't fit. It didn't fit because it wasn't his. If you don't stop this cover-up, who will? Send them a message. Let them know that your verdict will travel far outside these walls. Ladies and gentleman, remember these words: if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit. If it doesn't fit, you must acquit.