F. Lee Bailey, celebrity attorney, dies at 87 fox5atlanta.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from fox5atlanta.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
F Lee Bailey, the celebrity lawyer who defended OJ Simpson, Patricia Hearst and the alleged Boston Strangler has died at the age of 87, a former colleague said.
The death was confirmed by Peter Horstmann, who worked with Mr Bailey as an associate in the same law office for seven years.
In a legal career that lasted more than four decades, Mr Bailey was seen as arrogant, egocentric and contemptuous of authority. But he was also acknowledged as bold, brilliant, meticulous and tireless in the defence of his clients.
OJ Simpson reacts as he is found not guilty (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Daily News via AP)
“The legal profession is a business with a tremendous collection of egos,” Bailey said an in interview with U.S. News and World Report in September 1981. “Few people who are not strong egotistically gravitate to it.”
Some of Bailey’s other high-profile clients included Dr. Samuel Sheppard accused of killing his wife and Capt. Ernest Medina, charged in connection with the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.
“I have never known a greater intellect than that possessed by F. Lee Bailey,” said J. Albert Johnson, Bailey’s longtime legal partner and childhood friend.
Bailey, an avid pilot, best-selling author and television show host, was a member of the legal “dream team” that defended Simpson, the former star NFL running back and actor acquitted on charges that he killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in 1995.
Famed trial lawyer F. Lee Bailey, whose clients included O.J. Simpson, dies at 87 kaok.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kaok.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.