Johnnie Cochran’s mixed legacy

Tim Rutten’s history of Johnnie Cochran as being uniquely L.A. was instructional, up to a point [“Johnnie Cochran: L.A. Quintessential,” April 2]. Cochran may’ve been a great guy and a brilliant lawyer, but he’ll always be remembered for playing the race card in the Simpson case. That wrongheaded verdict is part of Cochran’s legacy. So when Rutten tries to justify it as an “L.A. Thing” -- a sort of proud Los Angeles chauvinism -- he insults everyone who lives or was born in L.A.

Ron Fineman

Valencia