I ADMIRED THIS LAWYER

I always thought it was strange that Johnnie Cochran hadn't been doing TV the last few years, since his most famous case gave birth to the popularity of Court TV. Turns out he was sick, terminally, and chose to keep it a secret and live out what time he had in private. You have to respect that.

If you were in big trouble with the law, this is the guy you wanted in your corner. The smartest thing O.J. Simpson ever did was demote Robert Shapiro and put his life in Cochran's hands. We all know O.J. did it; the jury knew it; the judge knew it; but the jury needed a place to hang their hats with a "Not Guilty" verdict, and Cochran provided the hook.

Cochran played the race card and won, but the gift of gifts was when Clark and Dardin forced O.J. to try on the glove. What were they thinking? At that point, Cochran had to know O.J. would be going home soon. The jury wanted payback for the LAPD, and now they had it.

Cochran's obit is very interesting, especially the part where he has a true "Perry Mason" moment during one of his cases. Cochran has a robbery victim on the stand and asks her to point out the man who robbed her. Read the obit here to see how that turned out. Cochran probably saw Perry pull the same trick on Hamilton Burger.

At the Pearly Gates, I'm sure Johnnie is appealing to St. Peter, saying, "If the casket don't fit, you must acquit."