If it doesn't fit, you must acquit. (enthymeme uttered during the O.J. Simpson trial)
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A legal catchphrase suggesting that procedural errors force an acquittal regardless of guilt.
- In plain terms
- If the evidence is not handled correctly, you must be set free.
- What can you take from it?
- Legal technicalities can sometimes override the truth in a trial.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does procedure matter more than truth?
- Is this fair?
Another view
Critics argue this prioritizes process over actual innocence or guilt.
More from Johnnie Cochran
I work not only for the OJs, but also the No Js. - In reference to many low income clients he represented.[1]
Permalink to quote #2 You could kill your wife and there's no such thing as 25 to life as long as you've got the cash to pay for Cochran.~ Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous, Goo…
Permalink to quote #3 I loved him as a good Christian man; I look at Johnnie as a great Christian. I knew him as that. He was a great guy. ~ O.J. Simpson, in a CNN interview.
Permalink to quote #4
Related quotes
Ach! I know. If I were to play the Pathetique or the Moonlight Sonata for the high judges, they would let me off. But my defense unfortunately will not be musi…
Walther FunkWalther Funk quote #2 A lawyer has no business with the justice or injustice of the cause which he undertakes, unless his client asks his opinion, and then he is bound to give it ho…
Samuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson quote #6 Eventually, these people will have trials and they will have counsel and they will be represented in a court of law.
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush quote #210