Johnnie Cochran of the day? Why Johnnie Cochran? Maybe Alan Dershowitz or Morris Dees, but, while gifted, Cochran's practice was completely unlike that of attorneys who have focused on criminal defense in civil rights cases. Just don't get why he is the first to come to mind in comparison ... Further, I don't believe there is any evidence that Chamlee (not Chumlee) and Leibowitz found Patterson's "superstitions" amusing, and it's not clear why that is inferred; additionally, because their defense teams at trial and appeal were engaged by the Communist party's legal arm, it seems that it is some Southern myth that these attorneys' interests were not in tow with a rigorous defense of their clients. Leibowitz had no ties to the Communist party, Chamlee did some masterful investigative work -- defending these young men is what they were about and what they valued. Finally, Dr. Sykes was in fact educated at Howard University, not Harvard University.

I believe that the Cochran comparison might have referred more to the level of national notoriety Leibowitz had attained than any comparison of kinds of cases tried.

Chamblee was indeed a stellar defense attorney at every turn in the Scottsboro saga, beginning before the Decatur trials commenced.

I believe the inference about the superstitions of Patterson and the way he was viewed by his defense team come from the photos themselves. I think no one can argue that a profound lack of understanding on Leibowitz's part about the harsh realities of life for his defendants and every black American in the south in the 1930's affected his trial preparation.

And finally, yes Dr. Sykes graduated from Howard. It is my belief that the strong testimonies of Drs. Sykes and Cashin in Decatur led directly to the Supreme Court ruling favorably in the case that would forever banish systematic exclusion of minorities from jury rolls.