THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 25, 1996 TAG: 9605250506
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIA MORGAN ALLEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 36 lines
Even as he treks around the world, he continues to make headlines.
Johnnie Cochran's life after O.J. Simpson has taken him to six countries, 26 states and 47 cities, including Norfolk on Friday.
During a visit to Norfolk Community Hospital to promote the hospital's fund-raising effort, the defense attorney said he has less privacy because of ongoing publicity. But popularity has its benefits, he said. Two weeks ago Cochran delivered the commencement speech at Morehouse College in Atlanta - one of many opportunities to discuss issues of pertinent national interest.
``I get a chance to speak out and try to make a difference,'' he said.
Like the difference he is trying to make in the case of a young man who died at UCLA Medical Center.
``A young lawyer went to UCLA Medical Center because he suffered from sickle cell anemia,'' Cochran said. ``They didn't know how to treat him and sent him home. He died.''
Cochran is representing the family in a wrongful death suit.
He's also trying to get lawmakers to introduce legislation to keep product manufacturers from distributing explosive chemicals. That effort coincides with a product liability case Cochran is handling. He is representing 350 relatives of the Oklahoma City bombing victims.
``We found out that the company could have added something (to the manure) to make less of a bomb,'' he said.
Cochran will chronicle the past year of his life in an autobiography,``My Journey to Justice,'' due in October. The book will also touch on how the `trial of the century' has affected his life. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Johnnie Cochran visited Norfolk Community Hospital Friday to help
with a fund-raising program. by CNB