Christopher Darden

Christopher Allen Darden (born April 7, 1956) is an American lawyer, author, actor, lecturer and practicing attorney. He was a 15-year veteran of the Los Angeles County District Attorney, where he was assigned to the prosecution of O. J. Simpson. Darden gained fame during the O. J. Simpson murder case when he asked Simpson to try on the bloody gloves.

Biography

Darden received his B.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from San Jose State University (1977) and his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law (1980).^[1]

Career

During his tenure as a prosecutor, Darden was the Assistant Head Deputy Attorney of the Special Investigations Division where he tried 27 homicide cases.

In 1998, Darden received the Crystal Heart Award from Loved Ones of Homicide Victims, an organization devoted to aiding families that have suffered the loss of loved ones as a result of violence. In 2000, he was recognized as "Humanitarian of the Year" by Eli Horne, a California shelter for abused children and women.

Darden is a former legal commentator for CNN, Court TV, NBC and CNBC, and a frequent guest and commentator on CNN, Fox News Network and Court TV. He has made guest appearances on Touched by an Angel, Girlfriends, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Muppets Tonight, Roseanne, and the movie Liar Liar. He is the former principal attorney in the syndicated legal show Power of Attorney.

Darden is also a writer. He is the co-author of the former number one New York Times best seller, In Contempt (1996), The Trials of Nikki Hill (1999), and LA Justice (2000). In September 2002, he published The Last Defense, a crime thriller written with Dick Lochte.

Life after the Simpson trial

After the Simpson trial, Darden left the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in 1995 and joined the faculty at California State University, Los Angeles, where he taught undergraduate criminal law. That same year, he was appointed Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern University School of Law. Darden taught and specialized in criminal procedure and trial advocacy.

In 1996 he revealed he was a Republican and stated he wished to address the 1996 Republican National Convention.^[2]

He left the law school in 1999 and started his own firm, Darden & Associates, Inc., specializing in criminal defense and civil litigation. In December 2007, he was considered for elevation to a judgeship by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[3]

In an interview by Oprah Winfrey that aired February 9, 2006, Darden stated that he still believes Simpson to be guilty. He also added that he was nearly as disgusted with the perjury of Mark Fuhrman as by the murders of Goldman and Simpson.

On September 6, 2012, Darden accused Simpson defense lawyer, the late Johnnie Cochran, of "manipulating" one of the infamous gloves that the prosecution said linked Simpson to the grisly double murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.^[4]

References