Leading Blacks To Honor Darden

Some of Los Angeles’ most prominent blacks plan to honor Deputy District Attorney Christopher A. Darden, the only black on the O.J. Simpson prosecution team, to repudiate the notion that Darden is an outcast in the black community.

Darden, who was reviled by some blacks for his role in the Simpson case, will be feted next week at an affair organized by Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke. Among the sponsors is Darden’s most heated nemesis in the Simpson trial, lead defense lawyer Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.

Monday’s affair comes as Darden is distancing himself from the district attorney’s office. On Tuesday Southwestern University School of Law announced that he was joining its faculty on a full-time basis next month.