Page 1
Darden Readies to Run for Superior Court
By a MetNews Staff Writer
|
|
|
CHRISTOPHER DARDEN criminal defense lawyer |
Christopher Darden—who drew international attention as a deputy district attorney in the 1995 failed prosecution of O.J. Simpson for the murder of his wife and her friend—yesterday took out a petition on which to gather signatures, each reducing the filing fee for running for a Los Angeles Superior Court seat.
Darden indicated his intention to run for Office No. 130, which is presently held by Judge Brian C. Yep.
Crystal Litz, Darden’s campaign consultant, said yesterday that it’s her understanding that Yep does not plan to run.
“I believe he plans to retire late this year so isn’t going to file,” she said.
Yep was appointed to the bench in 2003 by then-Gov. Gray Davis. He was at the time a partner at the law firm of Walsh Delaney & Yep.
Darden, 67, has the significant advantage of name-recognition, which creates the prospect that others might not get in the race. However, there is one negative factor: he flubbed on June 15, 1995, in asking Simpson to try on a pair of gloves found at the murder scene.
They didn’t fit.
Co-prosecutor Marcia Clark later said in her 1997 book, “Without a Doubt,” that this took her by surprise, She speculated that the gloves shrank over time owing to moisture.
For the past 27 years, Darden has been a criminal defense attorney. He is also an adjunct professor in the Business Department of Santa Monica College.
He previously served as an associate professor of law at Southwestern and taught a criminal law class at California State University.
His 1996 book, “In Contempt” (co-authored by Jess Walter) for 14 weeks was No. One on the New York Times bestseller list. Darden has been a frequent legal commentator on national news outlets.
The University of California, Hastings College of Law in 1980 conferred a law degree on him. He was admitted to practice that same year.
Copyright 2023, Metropolitan News Company