Richard Erwin, County’s 1st Public Defender, Dies

Richard E. Erwin, who was Ventura County’s first public defender and whose argument briefly overturned California’s death penalty law, died Tuesday at his Carpinteria home. He was 79.

The tough-talking, straight-shooting defense attorney was well-known and respected in Ventura County legal circles and remained active to the end, family and friends said.

“I don’t know why anybody, if they’ve got some ideas, why the hell they shouldn’t tell people,” Erwin said in an interview shortly after his retirement in 1984. “I mean, I don’t think I’m particularly outspoken. I just tell people what I think. . . . I’m not scared of anybody and nobody can hurt me.”

The author of two books, Erwin was working on another book, titled “Convictions of the Innocent,” at the time of his death, said his daughter, Elizabeth Erwin Davison.

He wrote the definitive “Defense of Drunk Driving Cases,” published in 1963, and a biography, “The Truth About Wyatt Earp,” published in 1993.

“He was a fascinating human being,” said Kenneth I. Clayman, Erwin’s successor and current public defender. “He was a legal giant.”

He passed the California Bar Exam in 1943 and practiced law in Los Angeles until moving to Ventura County in 1966, when he opened the county’s public defender’s office.

“It was hell [opening the office],” Erwin said in a magazine article. “They had no idea what the Constitution of the United States or the state of California meant.”

His argument before the state Supreme Court in Rockwell vs. Supreme Court in 1976 overturned California’s death penalty. The death penalty was restored by initiative two years later.

“He believed every person accused of a crime had an absolute right to a defense,” said Assistant Public Defender Duane Dammeyer, who was hired by Erwin in 1975. “He was a very interesting man to work for.”

His daughter said Erwin’s health declined dramatically after his wife of 56 years, Lyla, died in September.

“He was ready to go, he was heartbroken,” Davison said. “He was just miserable and missed her dearly. He was always saying, ‘I wish Mother was here.’ ”

Aside from his daughter, who moved from San Bernardino County to care for Erwin after the death of Lyla, he is survived by a son, Richard E. Erwin II; two grandchildren; five great-grandchildren and a great-great grandson.

He will be cremated and no funeral services will be held, Davison said.

“That’s the way he wanted it,” she said.