Christopher Darden Wrestles With His Karma

What did Christopher Darden do in a former life to deserve what he’s getting in this one? It must have had something to do with race. A couple decades back, Darden, who is black, found himself facing OJ Simpson’s dream team in what turned out to be a mismatch. Armed with nothing but overwhelming evidence, he and his fellow prosecutor Marcia Clark tried to convict Simpson of murder. In retrospect, it was mostly racial dynamics that doomed their effort, but the fact that Darden violated a rule that all good litigators have burned into their psyche played a role. He asked a question to which he didn’t already know the answer. “Mr. Simpson, would you kindly try those gloves on,” he said, and the jurors, along with half the US population that had become addicted to the televised trial, watched as the former football star tried to get the gloves on his huge hands. They didn’t fit, and as Simpson’s lead attorney famously told the jury, if they do not fit you must acquit. Darden not only lost, he’s been forced to explain his effort to convict Simpson to the black community many times since. Hate mail became a routine part of his day. It was painful, he told Oprah Winfrey, but he might be in the process of letting himself in for it again. He has signed on to defend the alleged killer of Grammy-nominated rapper and beloved LA community organizer Nipsey Hussle. The defendant is black as well, but for defending him, Darden, now 62, again finds himself on the wrong side of public opinion in a case that has many seeking justice for the loss of a talented musician who devoted his life to improving his community. Darden is also being vilified again, this time on Twitter instead of the US mail.