Live on AM Philadelphia,Live on AM Philadelphia,Jphnnie Cochran discussedLive on AM Philadelphia,Jphnnie Cochran discussedracism and the law. The cameras rolled in. Lights glared from every corner of the room. Crew members whispered animatedly into their headsets. And then famed attorney Johnnie Cochran came on the set -- or rather, the Law School's room 230A -- for an interview on WPVI's live morning program, AM Philadelphia. The show, which aired live from 10 to 11 a.m. last Friday, featured an interview with Cochran, the Los Angeles lawyer known for defending former football star O.J. Simpson against murder charges last year, among other noted clients. Sixty Law students, a handful of administrators and about 10 lawyers who were frequent guests on the program during the Simpson trial became the audience for the talk show-like forum. "We knew [Cochran] was in town pushing his book," said AM Philadelphia Executive Producer Marilyn Phister. "So we wanted to make the show special and do [the interview] for a whole hour and have the audience ask questions." Phister said the show was not entirely intended to revisit the Simpson trial but rather to get the "big picture" of Cochran's views on issues such as racism and the justice system. AM Philadelphia host Wally Kennedy, on the other hand, said he thought the session was important because Cochran was the "captain of the dream team" that defended Simpson -- a trial, he says, that tied law and race together. At show time, Cochran's introduction was met by thunderous applause. Kennedy proceeded to ask the audience if they would be willing to defend a person regardless of the case's social implications. Most in attendance raised their hands. Except one -- Cochran himself. He refuted the idea that the Simpson trial had social implications, noting that it focused on one man -- not larger issues of race and justice. The attorney, who some described as "smooth as ever," said a lawyer is obligated to defend his client without misleading the court. He explained that lawyers do not necessarily want to know if their client is guilty. The interview quickly turned to Cochran's involvement in the Simpson trial, particularly focusing on its racial implications. And he vigorously denied allegations of any misconduct on his part during the trial. In response to audience questions, he also said Simpson's acquittal was a defensive victory -- with a preponderance of reasonable doubt -- and not a blunder by the prosecuting attorneys. "If you take a snake and hold it close to your body, you can't complain if it bites you," Cochran said of his opponents' use of former Los Angeles Police Department Detective Mark Furman as a witness. Cochran advised the prospective lawyers in the audience to use ethics in their practice of the law -- to pursue the win but not at all costs. He blamed various societal problems in America for the "breakdown" of the nation's legal system, quoting the idiom "innocent until proven broke," which drew laughs from his eager listeners. Law students emerged buzzing about the Cochran appearance. "Johnnie Cochran coming here? provided us with an opportunity to deal with the issues without the emotionalism of lay people," second-year Law student Charlita Cardwell said. Cochran recently published an autobiography and helped produced Spike Lee's On the Bus, a movie about last October's Million Man March.
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