John W. Evans; Former Assemblyman From L.A.

John W. Evans, 78, a Democratic assemblyman from Los Angeles from 1939 to 1955. During his tenure in Sacramento, Evans served on the prestigious Assembly Rules Committee and as chairman of the Public Utilities Committee. He was a native of New York City whose family moved to Los Angeles where he attended USC. He joined the Internal Revenue Service as an accountant before seeking public office. In 1950 he was acquitted of charges that he had accepted bribes from George H. McLain, the pension promoter, when a jury failed to reach a verdict. Four years later Evans lost the district’s nomination to fellow Democrat Jesse Unruh, who went on to become a political power as Speaker of the Assembly and then state treasurer. In Sacramento on Oct. 30 of the lingering effects of a stroke.