 |
 |
 |
|
|
Raymond Choate, Judge in a Charles Manson Trial, Dead at 85
San Jose Mercury News MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. - Raymond Choate, who as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge presided over the second murder trial of Charles Manson, has died. He was 85. Choate died Friday at his home in Manhattan Beach of complications from a massive stroke he suffered on Jan. 3, said his son, Dennis Choate. "When all is said and done, if I am viewed as half the judge or half the man as Raymond Choate, I will consider my life a success," said Dennis Choate, an Orange County Superior Court judge. "He didn't say so but he earned his reputation. He put in a lot of work. He was part of that great generation that (Tom) Brokaw talks about." Raymond Choate presided over Manson's second murder trial that resulted in sentences of life in prison for Manson and follower Bruce Davis for the 1969 murders of Gary Hinman and Donald "Shorty" Shea. He intervened in a grand jury case in which testimony was leaked and Los Angeles Times reporter Bill Farr was jailed for 1 1/2 months for refusing to reveal his source. Like the judge before him, however, Choate was never able to get Farr to talk and put him in jail for the weekend, his son recalled. Raymond Choate retired in 1987 after 20 years on the bench. He served the last 12 years in Santa Monica. He previously served as a criminal supervising judge and appointed the first black grand jury foreman for Los Angeles County, his son said. In addition to his son, Choate is survived by his wife, three other children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. |
|
|