Joseph T. Powers; Retired Senior County Prosecutor

Joseph T. Powers, retired senior trial deputy for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office whose three decades as a prosecutor included the famous Finch-Tregoff trial of the early 1960s, died Wednesday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena.

Powers was 80 and had retired in 1969, eight years after he and Clifford D. Crail successfully prosecuted Dr. R. Bernard Finch and his lover, Carole Tregoff, for the murder of Finch’s wife. Powers and Crail were co-prosecutors at the second and third Finch-Tregoff trials. The first two ended in hung juries.

Powers also served on the California Law Revision Commission, helping to revise the California Penal Code. He also helped establish a county program where indigent prisoners awaiting trial could be released without having to post bail.

Powers was a graduate of the USC Law School and was a national handball champion, representing the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

Survivors include his wife, Mildred, a son, Tom, and two daughters, Nancy and Patty. A rosary will be recited Sunday at 7 p.m. at Cabot & Sons Funeral Home in Pasadena. Funeral services will be Monday at 9:30 a.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church in South Pasadena.