300 Attend Services : Judge Timothy England Dies in Crash

About 300 mourners gathered Sunday for memorial services for Municipal Court Judge Timothy England, 43, who was killed last week when the van in which he was a passenger collided with another car in Los Banos in Merced County.

Court employees, judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys, police officers and victim-assistance workers were among those who crowded into the small chapel. At least 100 people stood outside, straining to hear the eulogies delivered by England’s closest friends and associates.

England was born in Santa Monica and lived on the Westside all his life.

After graduation from USC, he served in the Navy, then returned to school, earning his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1969.

As a deputy district attorney in Santa Monica Superior Court, he earned a reputation as a dedicated and sensitive prosecutor as head of one of the early sexual-assault prosecution units. He was appointed to the bench by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 1981 and assigned to the West Los Angeles Court.

Attorney John Altschul, who acts as judge pro tem in small claims court in West Los Angeles, said England “was probably the most current criminal lawyer or judge in town. He . . . was consulted by everybody in respect to criminal procedure and law.”

England was killed when the van in which he was riding was struck by a car driven by David Francis Castro, 85, of Sacramento, according to the California Highway Patrol. England was thrown from the van and killed instantly. Three other passengers and the driver were injured. A CHP spokesman said that charges of vehicular manslaughter will be filed against Castro.

England is survived by his parents, William and Edna England; two brothers, Christopher and Geoffrey, and a sister, Judith.