The Search for Justice
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At the same time, Shapiro presents a moving portrait of the human drama taking place in his own life as the trial progressed. His relentless sixteen-hour workdays and constant media attention (even at his sons ’ birthday parties) all but destroyed his private life and had negative long-term effects on his wife and children. The pains and pleasures of celebrity are an important theme of the book.
ROBERT L. SHAPIRO is a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Christensen, White, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser & Shapiro. He lives in Southern California with his wife, Linell, and their two sons, Brent and Grant.
LARKIN WARREN, a former editor at Esquire and Lear ’s, co-authored Nancy Zeigenmeyer ’s Taking Back My Life (Summit) and Loni Anderson ’s My Life in High Heels (William Morrow).
Inside THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE
on preparing for this case: “Some defense attorneys say that they never ask clients whether or not they committed the crime. To me, that ’s crazy. I want to know, I have to know, it ’s in my client ’s best interests that I do know. I ’m never afraid to ask. I want the truth, no matter what it is.”
on Mark Fuhrman: “Fuhrman acknowledged he routinely put suspects in the hospital with ‘broken hands, faces, arms, and knees. ’ His three rules were quoted as being ‘You don ’t see, you don ’t remember, it didn ’t happen. ’”
on Johnnie Cochran: “O.J described his legal team with an analogy to football. There would be a team owner and part-time coach: that was O.J. Then there would be the quarterback: me. And then the quarterback would hand off to a running back as good as O.J. Simpson, and that, he said, would be Johnnie Cochran.”
on the prosecution: “I think the prosecution over-tried the case. They tried to prove not only the science of DNA, but everything behind the science. They not only lost the jury, they bored them. When you lose a jury, you ’re in trouble; once a jury is bored, you ’re in big trouble.”
on race in America: “When the Fuhrman tapes were released, black America ’s response was T told you so. ’ White America ’s response was T don ’t believe it. ’ It seems we still have a lot to learn about each other. The gains made by the civil rights movement have been thwarted by the racial polarization that still exists in America.”