For Johnnie Cochran, a New Court Fight

Johnnie Cochran can laugh at Jay Leno’s gibes or chuckle about one-liners at his expense on “Saturday Night Live.” Even a scene in “Scream 2,” in which a pathological killer says he’ll hire Cochran as his defense lawyer, is simply the price of notoriety, O.J. Simpson’s lawyer acknowledges.

But the New York Post is different. Cochran has filed a $10-million libel suit against the Post, and his laugh quickly disappears at the mention of Manhattan’s noisy tabloid.

“‘I’m a thick-skinned guy who is basically not bothered by writers who I perceive have an agenda,” Cochran said as he prepared in a midtown Manhattan office tower for a recent appearance on his Court TV show. “But you draw the line generally as a lawyer when somebody writes an article saying that you have made a history of lying in court.”

Cochran’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Dec. 10, argues that the Post libeled him in August when a columnist wrote that “history reveals that [Cochran] will say or do just about anything to win, typically at the expense of the truth.”

The column was written shortly after Cochran joined the legal team representing Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was allegedly beaten and sodomized with a toilet plunger by New York policemen. Before Cochran’s appearance, Louima was seeking $55 million from the city. Now, the demand is more than $150 million.

Andrea Peyser wrote that “Louima deserves better. . . . Most of all, he deserves to see the truth come out. And so do the rest of us. This is not L.A.”

Cochran’s case is being handled by L.A. lawyer Barry Langberg, who won a libel action for Carol Burnett against the National Enquirer. Through a spokesman, the Post said the suit has no merit and will be defended “vigorously.”

Many lawyers who handle libel cases think the Post will win easily. Peyser’s column is her opinion, and opinion in most cases is protected by the Constitution. “I think it will be a very hard road to walk just to get this case to a jury,” said 1st Amendment expert Floyd Abrams.

Peyser told the New York Observer, a hip alternative weekly, that she was “astonished that in this country, you can be sued for expressing an opinion, particularly one as widely held as the one expressed in the column.”

Moreover, the Post does not seem to be softening its views about Cochran. On the same day his lawsuit was being filed, the Post was once again taking him on. This time, the paper focused on Cochran’s defense of NBA player Latrell Sprewell, who was suspended after trying to choke his coach. A prominent column ran with the headline: “Here’s Johnnie--there goes truth.”

Cochran just shakes his head.

“They weren’t with me those 34 years I practiced law as an assistant D.A. of L.A. County--when I won police brutality cases when nobody else was trying them. They weren’t with me when I became the only lawyer in the history of California to win civil trial lawyer of the year and criminal trial lawyer of the year in one year.”

Cochran’s plaint comes at a time when he is just beginning to make his mark in New York, hoping that even at age 60 he can add new layers to his reputation and perhaps soften the anger that erupted over the Simpson defense. Starting last year as a regular on Court TV, Cochran now appears four nights a week on “Cochran & Co.” to discuss legal issues.

He also admits to being captivated by the Big Apple and is trying to expand his legal duties on this coast. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Cochran now spends about half his time in Manhattan and its outer boroughs. He is an advisor on a case in Buffalo, N.Y., and was asked last summer to take part in the Louima case, which many lawyers believe could result in a settlement rather than a trial.

Cochran said he is applying to be admitted to the New York bar in January and hopes to help musician Lionel Hampton in an action against a halogen lamp manufacturer after the lamp fell and ignited a fire that destroyed Hampton’s New York apartment.

“There is a certain dynamism, a certain dynamic quality about New York,” Cochran said. “I have one of these kinds of high metabolisms, so I probably move at a speed more like the New Yorkers. But, you know, L.A.’s still home.”

Unlike Los Angeles, where he started at the bottom of the legal hierarchy and often defended the underdog, Cochran arrived in New York a year ago famous and infamous in a way that some New Yorkers abhor but many begrudgingly admire.

The New York Observer recently followed Cochran through his day and listened to him talk effusively about the city--noting that “N.Y.C. Fits like a Glove (Oops!)” As he becomes more visible here, Cochran also becomes more vulnerable to the kinds of attacks that focus on him as a celebrity lawyer who takes fewer underdogs and more high-profile clients.

The New York Times featured an opinion piece by author Gay Talese that argued Cochran was part of a media blitz that aggravated racial tensions. Talese labeled Cochran “a peerless exponent of racism as a weapon of defense”--to which an irritated Cochran responded: “I never used racism as a weapon of defense,” explaining how he focused on whether the jury had any “reasonable doubt” that Simpson killed his wife, Nicole, and Ronald Goldman.

It could take a while for the memory of Simpson to fade. But Cochran increasingly appears as part of the New York scene--from Al Sharpton’s rallies to the New Yorker’s literary gatherings. He could also become known as a celebrity who took on the Post.

“When somebody goes too far, you have to take a stand,” he said. “You can’t imagine the number of calls I’ve gotten from people who say to me, about the Post: ‘It’s about time.’ ”