Law-and-Order Judge James K. Turner Dead at 71

Superior Court Judge James K. Turner, known for his law-and-order rulings on the bench and his sense of humor outside the courtroom, has died of heart disease and pneumonia. He was 71.

Turner died Monday at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

Despite having officially retired from the bench nine years ago, Turner continued to hear cases nearly full time.

His best-known case was the first murder trial of Dr. William B. Waddill, a Huntington Harbour obstetrician accused of strangling a baby who survived the abortion he had performed on an 18-year-old. The jury deadlocked in that trial and in a second one.

“I don’t think you’d ever get 12 people to agree on that case,” Turner once said.

The judge was born Oct. 11, 1928, in Long Beach and grew up in Flintridge.

He received his bachelor’s degree from USC and his law degree from Loyola University.

After law school, he worked a short time as a deputy Los Angeles city attorney. Then he moved south to take a position as a deputy district attorney in Orange County, a job he held until he entered private practice in 1959.

He returned to the Orange County prosecutor’s office in 1967. Two years later, Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Municipal Court. In 1971, Reagan appointed him to Superior Court.

Turner is survived by his wife, Robin; two children, James Jr. of New York and Sue Ellen Wright of Novato; two stepsons, Kent Littlehale of Saratoga and Peter Littlehale of Reno, Nev.; and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at Pacific View Memorial Park Chapel in Newport Beach.

The family requests that contributions be made to the memorial fund in his name at Hoag Hospital Foundation/Hoag Heart Institute, 1501 Superior Ave., Newport Beach, CA 92663.