In Contempt (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Christopher A. Darden (Author), Jess Walter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1996 | Series: G K Hall Large Print Book Series

Fresh from a key role in the O.J. Simpson trial, Christopher Darden stands out as the voice of integrity and conscience in a court case otherwise embittered by race issues, doubt, false testimony and media pressure. His journey from the ghettoes to his appointment as Deputy District Attorney represents the conflicting pressures put on blacks everyday. Simultaneous hardcover release from ReganBooks. 2 cassettes.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

. . . During the trial Mr. Darden seemed, unlike many on view, as if he might be a decent human being. . . . In Contempt leaves you convinced of this. . . . -- The New York Times Book Review, Adam Hochschild --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Christopher Darden is a fifteen-year veteran of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office and an Associate Professor of Law at Southwestern University School of Law. One of the key prosecutors in the case of The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson, he lives in Los Angeles, California.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 620 pages
• Publisher: G K Hall & Co (November 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783818580
• ISBN-13: 978-0783818580
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,377,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Personal and Professional, October 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Contempt (Mass Market Paperback)

In Contempt by Christopher Darden is an interesting book. I bought it following an interview on a morning TV talk show shortly after it was released. At that time, Darden spoke about his "passion, not anger," after the interviewer alleged he was an angry, bitter man. I thought he made an intriguing statement . . . Although he is moody -- and this comes out not only in his speaking, but also in his writing -- the tone of the book on balance is not harsh and heavy handed.

Certainly, there are shots at the main characters, Judge Ito, the Scheme Team, led by Cochrane, and others, but nothing is below the belt. A book like this is bound to criticize people -- and many people are criticized, including Darden himself by Darden himself -- but the overwhelming criticism in my reading was Judge Ito's.

Every time Darden pointed out one of Ito's silly decisions, I had to put the book down, I was cracking up, a mixture of disbelief at what Ito had said, and realization of how off the wall he was. It was so bizarre! Darden's close-call with being in contempt at one point is presumably the basis of the book's title. It was a close call and, as you will read, the quick and strong response by Marcia Clark when he was risking going to jail, is hard to forget.

The book is very personal, dealing with private issues, most notably the battle of his brother with AIDS (during the trial), and his "almost romantic" relationship with Marcia Clark. Darden includes a fair amount of interesting accounts about his working relationship with Clark, but he never goes so far as to say they were anything besides very, very, very close friends. He is a bit coy in that regard, but he already divested more about him and her than one would have expected.

Although the book is very personal, it does not really make up its mind, feeling in many ways like a memoir, especially because of the sheer amount of content from his private life in his family situation, his relationship with Clark, and his early years growing up, but it is obviously in many ways the story of his professional life in a court-room drama, addressing the many issues of prosecuting the case.

My point is that in terms of its structure, there are serious flaws. It is understandable, however, that it would read like a memoir, because, by his own admission, Darden has retired. He claims in the book he is never going to practice law again; instead, he is going to continue teaching. He became too disillusioned with the legal system, he gave up on it, after fifteen years, choosing instead to prepare the lawyers of the future.

Darden is an effective writer. Anyone who is a lawyer one would expect to be an effective writer. If you are disappointed with the book, it will not be due to the writing, but because of its structure and organization. Although he is repetitive, it is perfectly understandable, because prosecuting requires repetition to be effective. You can be repetitive and effective; and, indeed, this is the first book I have read whose repetition did not take something away from the book, it only added to its strength.

In Contempt is a very readable book. Indeed, it is a page-turner, a book I could not easily put down. I stayed up very late reading this one! This, in many ways, is because of the way Darden describes the intense emotional and social dynamics which dominated the case. You feel as if you are in the courtroom. It was much more powerful reading the book than watching the case unfold live on television, even several years after the event.

A book like In Contempt is obviously going to be a defence of the prosecution -- which failed. To a small or large extent, then, it is going to be self-serving. That is indeed axiomatic, and an almost irrelevant point. My own take on writing books about the case, and there were many, is that people gave so much of their lives, for so long, they deserve what they get, and more; Darden, for example, worked 16-hour days continuously for a year. He worked until and after he had nothing left to give.

The immense personal sacrifice the author made is nothing less than astounding and outstanding. Not only did he work so hard for so long, Darden almost risked life and limb, totally living and working against the grain of black culture. He says he received death threats, and vividly recounts the time of being spat upon by another black man one day while driving to the court room. He managed to get his car window up, but not in time. Phones were ringing off the hook to insult him. The list goes on and on.

One of the most important stories in the book is the account of the circumstances surrounding the infamous glove which the defendant tried on in court. For a long time, while I still respected Darden as a man, I did not respect him as a lawyer, because of the glove. Yet he managed in the book to change my mind. His argument that the defence would have been able to get their client to try on the glove if they did not is compelling. It was a split-second type of decision, and Darden weighed the option carefully.

In my opinion, Darden is too hard on himself about the glove, just as others, both in the media, and the prosecution team. It would not have made any difference, as the physical evidence, according to an expert pundit, was sufficient to condemn several murderers, not only one, to a jury which had not already decided the verdict. One of the most fascinating series of stories in the book is the inner workings of the jury; indeed, those stories are worth the price of the book. They are revealing, shocking, unbelievable!

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darden Has Nothing to Be Ashamed About..., April 26, 2003

By 

D. A. Martin "Avid Reader" (Morocco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Contempt (Hardcover)

I was a junior in college when the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced in October 1995, and I bought Chris Darden's book as soon as it was published. I was (and still am) inspired by Darden's story of how he grew up, why he decided to become a lawyer, and all of his personal and professional trials, tribulations, and triumphs - not to mention the guts that it took to agree to be on the prosecution team of "the trial of the century."

Reading about all of the ostracism that Darden suffered by blacks in L.A. (not to mention being all but skewered in the court of national black public opinion) enraged me. The fact that he was labeled a "sellout," "Uncle Tom," and a "race traitor" of the worst kind for prosecuting (as was his job) a wealthy black celebrity athelete - whom most people, including blacks, knew was guilty as hell! - made me realize as a young black man that sometimes we as blacks indeed are our own worst enemy. As Darden poignantly points out, supporting a black man who, based on the evidence, murdered his white wife and her friend is not "getting back at the [white] man." To add insult to injury, after the verdict and subsequent black celebrations, some black lawyers group decided to "honor" Darden at a dinner - with Johnnie Cochran as the guest speaker, no less - with what I'll term a BLACK GUILT-ASSUAGING AWARD. This was basically their way of saying to Darden, after taking him to the public opinion woodshed for over a year, that "You're still 'down' with us. You're welcome back into the community." In accepting his award, Darden, to his credit, let them know: "You don't have to welcome me back into the community, because I never left."

Christopher Darden has nothing to be ashamed about. He honored the legal profession by doing his civic duty to the best of his ability as an officer of the court AND the law. We could all learn a lot from his example.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just the Facts, April 16, 2002

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Contempt (Mass Market Paperback)

There are a number of reviews here that talk about this books outline and no shortage of comments on the main subjects guilt or innocence. I, therefore, will just tell you my impressions of the book. All I wanted was details on the trial; I really did not care about his upbringing, college days, or pre trial work experience. As far as the trail info went, it was worth wading through the aforementioned items. The book just had a ton of good old fashion, gossip style details and facts that kept me interested until the end. The writing style was good and fast paced. The author also did a very good job of explaining his feelings throughout the book. To lose on such an important manner and in such a public way can be sole destroying and the author does a very credible job of describing it. Overall the book is interesting and well worth the time to read it.