In Memoriam: Charles Van Court '70
Charles Reid Van Court, a former top prosecutor in the Yolo County District Attorney's Office who became a respected Superior Court commissioner, died Thursday, January 4, 2007. He was 63.
He died at his Davis home after a recent diagnosis of kidney cancer, which spread to other organs, said his son, Jason Van Court.
The elder Van Court joined the District Attorney's Office after graduating from UC Davis School of Law and rose to chief deputy by 1975. In 1983, the Board of Supervisors appointed him to fill an 18-month vacancy as acting district attorney. He mentored many prosecutors working today as mid-level managers, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Steve Mount said.
He prosecuted homicides and other major felonies, including "difficult cases that no one else wanted to touch," Superior Court Judge Arvid Johnson said. In 1992, he won a death penalty sentence in the emotionally charged murder trial of Lionel Ernest Tholmer, who was convicted of killing a West Sacramento woman and her three-year-old daughter, even though the girl's body was not found. The sentence was reduced to life in prison without parole.
"He was a superb trial attorney," said Johnson, a former colleague in the DA's office. "He was not a grandstander or someone who puffed or screamed. He was a gentleman who did just what the case required."
He earned a reputation for fairness with prosecutors and defense lawyers, colleagues said. He was an effective "closer" for the DA's office, meeting regularly with judges and public defenders to hash out and resolve cases before trial, Mount said.
Van Court, who ran unsuccessfully for Municipal Court judge in 1978, was appointed a Yolo County Superior Court commissioner in 1994. Besides traffic and misdemeanor cases, he handled a full caseload of major criminal trials -- a responsibility that required approval from both prosecutors and defense lawyers. He retired in October.
"He brought years of experience to all kinds of criminal cases and was very well respected by everyone," Superior Court Presiding Judge Stephen Mock said. "People listened to him when he made rulings."
Van Court was born in 1943 and raised in Oakland, where he was an Eagle Scout and a miler on the high school track team. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in art history and earned a law degree in 1970.
He was married in 1967 to Diana Joan Cotton, who died in 2004. The following year, he married Sam Iris Fortney. He enjoyed traveling, including cruises to Alaska and road trips in California. He also was an avid golfer at courses in Davis and Woodland.
Van Court was a congenial man who enjoyed working with colleagues in the District Attorney's Office and the courthouse. As a lawyer and a commissioner, he was a humble and unassuming public servant, friends said.
"There was not a proud or arrogant bone in his body," Johnson said. "He was someone behind the scenes who made the system work."
The Sacramento Bee/January 9, 2007
Daily Democrat/January 10, 2007
He died at his Davis home after a recent diagnosis of kidney cancer, which spread to other organs, said his son, Jason Van Court.
The elder Van Court joined the District Attorney's Office after graduating from UC Davis School of Law and rose to chief deputy by 1975. In 1983, the Board of Supervisors appointed him to fill an 18-month vacancy as acting district attorney. He mentored many prosecutors working today as mid-level managers, Supervising Deputy District Attorney Steve Mount said.
He prosecuted homicides and other major felonies, including "difficult cases that no one else wanted to touch," Superior Court Judge Arvid Johnson said. In 1992, he won a death penalty sentence in the emotionally charged murder trial of Lionel Ernest Tholmer, who was convicted of killing a West Sacramento woman and her three-year-old daughter, even though the girl's body was not found. The sentence was reduced to life in prison without parole.
"He was a superb trial attorney," said Johnson, a former colleague in the DA's office. "He was not a grandstander or someone who puffed or screamed. He was a gentleman who did just what the case required."
He earned a reputation for fairness with prosecutors and defense lawyers, colleagues said. He was an effective "closer" for the DA's office, meeting regularly with judges and public defenders to hash out and resolve cases before trial, Mount said.
Van Court, who ran unsuccessfully for Municipal Court judge in 1978, was appointed a Yolo County Superior Court commissioner in 1994. Besides traffic and misdemeanor cases, he handled a full caseload of major criminal trials -- a responsibility that required approval from both prosecutors and defense lawyers. He retired in October.
"He brought years of experience to all kinds of criminal cases and was very well respected by everyone," Superior Court Presiding Judge Stephen Mock said. "People listened to him when he made rulings."
Van Court was born in 1943 and raised in Oakland, where he was an Eagle Scout and a miler on the high school track team. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in art history and earned a law degree in 1970.
He was married in 1967 to Diana Joan Cotton, who died in 2004. The following year, he married Sam Iris Fortney. He enjoyed traveling, including cruises to Alaska and road trips in California. He also was an avid golfer at courses in Davis and Woodland.
Van Court was a congenial man who enjoyed working with colleagues in the District Attorney's Office and the courthouse. As a lawyer and a commissioner, he was a humble and unassuming public servant, friends said.
"There was not a proud or arrogant bone in his body," Johnson said. "He was someone behind the scenes who made the system work."
The Sacramento Bee/January 9, 2007
Daily Democrat/January 10, 2007