An O.J. Simpson murder trial prosecutor is receiving support for his judicial campaign in Los Angeles County from the judge he clashed with during the infamous trial.
Christopher Darden announced he is running for Los Angeles Superior Court judge.
Darden’s campaign website indicates that he has been endorsed by former LA County Superior Court Judge Lance Ito, who retired in 2015.
The endorsement from Ito comes 20 years after he and Darden faced off in court during the “trial of the century” that ended with O.J. Simpson’s acquittal in the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman.
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Chris Darden representing Eric Holder in court on April 4. (Francine Orr/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Trial footage from Feb. 23, 1995, shows that Ito cited Darden for civil contempt over the sidebar comments, between Darden and defense attorney Johnnie Cochran’s cross-examination.
Darden has since apologized to Ito, as captured in the trial footage.
“It appears that the court is correct that perhaps my comments may have been or are somewhat inappropriate. I apologize to the court, I meant no disrespect,” Darden said, asking Ito if he could hear his concerns about the defense’s conduct at a later time. “I apologize.”
Ito accepted the apology and offered one of his own, noting that the two had known each other for “a number of years.”
O.J. Simpson (C) listens to the not guilty verdict with his attorneys F. Lee Bailey (L) and Johnnie Cochran Jr (R). (MYUNG J. CHUN/AFP via Getty Images)
“Mr. Darden, I accept your apology. I apologize to you for my reaction as well. You and I have known each other for a number of years and I know that your response was out of character,” Ito said. “And I’ll note it as such.”
Before Ito became a judge, he and Darden worked together as prosecutors in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office’s “Hard Core Gangs” unit, according to Darden’s campaign.
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Defense attorneys F Lee Bailey and Johnnie Cochran confer with Assistant District Attorney Marcia Clark during the OJ Simpson murder trial, Los Angeles, California, July 5, 1995. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
According to Darden’s campaign website, he has been in private practice as a criminal defense attorney for the past 27 years. He has also been teaching for more than a decade, serving as an adjunct professor of law, an assistant professor of law and professor, teaching at California State University, Los Angeles, Southwestern University school of law and Santa Monica College.
