What are your thoughts about him recently making parole?
I fully expected that he would make parole. It was kind of nice seeing him in handcuffs and knowing he was in prison all those years, but I understand the Nevada parole board’s decision.
Knowing what you know now and looking back on the case, would you have done anything different?
I would have done lots of things differently. First thing I would have done differently was to not announce beforehand that I intended to arrest O.J. By signaling to him that he was going to be arrested, it allowed him to get into his Bronco and take us on that slow speed Bronco chase.
arguably one of the strangest things ive ever seen on live tv. the whole thing was a goddamn circus from start to finish. how glad we're you when the trial was over? did you take a long vacation to decompress from it all?
I tried to take a year off and decompress, but during that time, they fired me. And that was one hell of a vacation.
Hi Christopher - There seem to be a ton of docudrama TV shows about the trial and OJ in general, especially lately. Do you ever watch any of them? If so, what do you think of them?
I have never watched any of them.
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
My mama and daddy grew up in the south in East Texas, and my favorite ice cream is black walnut.
Did Sterling K. Brown contact you or attempt to meet you before his portrayal in the most recent tv series?
He called me at 3am Pacific Time to tell me he had gotten the role. I chewed his ass out.
What actor has been your favorite portrayal of yourself on television?
I haven’t watched, but everyone says Sterling K. Brown is a better me than me.
How far, if at all, do you think the conversation about race/racism has evolved since the verdict?
It took a few years after the verdict to calm folks down so that we could have a conversation about race, and we did that. And I think things got better when we elected Barack Obama. But now, I feel like it’s 1964 again.
How did Johnny Cochrane change the tone of the trial from murder to racism so effectively?
Cochran used the media to change the conversation as effectively as Donald Trump does.
Who do you think was the most credible witness in the trial?
Philip Vannatter.
Loved your quote (paraphrasing) "OJ may have been a model prisoner but he's far from a model citizen." Priceless !
Moving forward, what advice would you give to other prosecutors trying similar high profile cases against celebrities? How can we preserve objectivity without making a mockery of the legal system?
I think that it’s important to have available to those prosecutors a mental health professional and someone to manage the media and social media. I think that will help a prosecutor stay grounded and focused. If it’s going to be a long trial – 8 moths, a year — I think it’s important to have a nutritionist available. By the time the Simpson case was over, I’d lost more than 20 pounds and 2 teeth, had 4 root canals, and God knows what else.
Hi Christopher! Which do you think was more harmful to the prosecution's case: having O.J. try on the gloves (which ended up not fitting), or the fact that Mark Furhman was exposed as a racist cop who very likely planted evidence?
Furhman. I'm sure as hell not going to say it was the glove. Duh.
You're probably sick of dealing with the OJ case after all these years, so I'll ask something different.
What your favorite TV show?
Gunsmoke. The episodes get better after you've seen them 60 or 70 times.
I remember reading that your kids did not know you were famous. What do they think of this now that they know?
They don’t like it at all. They see and they read the social media and the comments that people make and they’re hurt by it.
Do you think OJ will commit more crimes once he's released?
You mean like crimes against nature? I don’t know. I hope not.
Hi Christopher - had you been a criminal defense attorney at the time, would you have had a problem defending O.J.?
No.
Thank you so much for doing this Ama!
My question is, you mentioned you were the prosecutor in the OJ Simpson case but that you now work as criminal defense attorney.
What pushed that shift from prosecutor to defense attorney?
Also, after OJ was found not guilty how did that effect your career moving forward?
Thanks again!
I became a defense attorney after the district attorney’s office terminated my employment.
Do you feel the Rodney King beating/LA Riots and elevated racial tensions had an impact on the Simpson verdict?
Absolutely. It made the jury more willing to accept the ridiculous idea that LAPD officers framed Simpson.
Do you feel OJ really put forth his best effort when trying on the glove? To me, it has always appeared that he bent his hand just enough to prevent the glove from sliding on.
PS - Loved how honest you were after the parole hearing the other day!
Thank you. And no, he played around with it and tried to avoid making it fit. I hoped the jury would recognize that, but they couldn’t see it, because they didn’t want to see it.
What was the reaction of your family and friends after they learned you had taken the case?
I didn’t really have any friends outside the DA’s office. And a lot of those friends were supportive while others, even though they were prosecutors, went about the business of stabbing me in the back every chance they got. But that is the nature of lawyers — to consume their own.
Thanks for doing this! Have you talked to Mark Furman since the trial and if so what was the interaction?
I have not talked or spoken to Mark Furhman since the trial. For obvious reasons.
Thoughts on Faye Resnick?
LOL. LOL. Laughing my ass off.
What was your relationship with Johnnie Cochran like after the OJ verdict?
Edit: Spelling
When I began my solo practice as a criminal defense attorney, one of my first clients was a man referred to me by Johnnie Cochran.
Is it true that OJ could come out publicly now and say "yes, I did it. I killed them both" and nothing could be done about it?
Yes, that is true. He has been found innocent, and to prosecute him again in state court would constitute double jeopardy and would be precluded by law. Did I say innocent? I meant not guilty.
What do the think of the theory that OJs son killed Nicole and Ron? Did your office explore this before the trial?
I think the theory that OJ's son was involved in the murders is defamatory and untrue.
If you were walking down the street and saw OJ or he approached you, how would you feel? What would you say?
I wouldn't feel anything one way or the other. I sure as hell wouldn't be afraid of him. I'd probably tell him to get the fuck off my sidewalk and take his ass across the street.
what first got you interested in law?
please ask the assistant who set up the lighting rig in your bedroom to also make your bed!
I grew up at a time when there were a number of public trials involving civil rights leaders and what were referred to as "black militants." So there were a number of political trials and I knew how important the law was to the black community, and I admired those lawyers who took those cases, and I wanted to be one of them.
As a professor, would your students try and make references to the OJ case in their papers? Would it get them extra credit or would you flunk them? =P
My students made references to the trial in my Trial Advocacy class. It's a great teaching example and I was fine with students referring to the trial, so long as they didn't say "the glove did not fit."
Given your experience, what are your thoughts about television cameras in courtrooms? Do they help or hurt the justice system?
I think cameras in the court room are a mistake. I think they have a way of reducing a serious somber proceeding to a reality TV show and a mockery of what a trial ought to be.
How did they not think of the fact that leather shrinks in the trial?
I take responsibility for the glove issues, so if there is any blame or fault to be assessed, it fell on me. And it should be assessed to me because I'm the only one strong enough to carry that burden.
Hello Mr. Darden. Thanks for doing the AMA!
My question is in regards to the suitcase that was in OJ's custody on the day he arrived from Chicago; later, Rob Kardashian walked away with it. I'm not asking for speculation on what was in it, but rather curious how big of a focal point it was for the prosecution team to obtain it? Do you think the state could have gotten the contents of the suitcase? And finally, how do you personally feel about about potential evidence walking out the front door for the "Trial of the Century"?
Thanks.
Every time I see video of Simpson handing the Louis Vuitton bag to Kardashian, it makes me sick. We never learned the contents of the bag. I brought Kardashian to the Grand Jury and asked him about the bag under oath. There's nothing more I could say about that.
Would you rather fight a horse sized duck or a hundred duck sized horses?
I'll take the horse sized duck. I'm sure the filets would be much more tender.
How do you feel on the whole 'if the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit' saying? Do you think they could have made a better rhyme?
Well, quite honestly, I did not appreciate at the time the impact that little ditty had on the jurors. I thought it was a kids rhyme for idiots, to be honest, but it was effective.
What actor would you have liked to portray you on the television?
I don't know. I think that Sterling K. Brown is now me for the ages. I wrote the best book for that trial. My book was on the New York Times best seller list at #1 for weeks. However, no one in Hollywood discovered just how good it is. I think that 20 years ago, Denzel Washington would have made a good Chris Darden. I think that Tyrese Gibson would make a good Chris Darden if the series focused more on my personal life than my legal life. But I do hope one day somebody does do a movie about me and my life, perhaps just to enrich my children, if nothing else. But so far, people just steal my words and my images and don't even fucking bother to buy me a two-piece chicken snack at Popeyes.
If you could not be an attorney, what other career would you consider?
Politics. I'd run for President of the United States. Except I might lose because I'm over-qualified.
What is the greatest public misunderstanding about the work of a prosecutor?
I think it has more to do with prosecutors in general. I think it is a mistake to assume that because someone is a prosecutor, that he or she is somehow more honest or has more integrity just because they are a prosecutor. Most of the prosecutors I know are good people who are committed to protecting us from those who would prey on us. But these days, I sometimes run into prosecutors who just don't seem to have the character we used to have 20-30 years ago. People need to understand that prosecutors are lawyers, and like my grandmama once told me, a law degree is a license to lie.
Is Fred Goldman's mustache as intimidating in real life as it is on TV?
Fred's mustache is created by God as the eighth wonder of the world, and there's something about Fred, that when he talks, you want to listen. He is a straight-shooter. He never minces words. And he is as good a man as his mustache looks on television.
