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JOHN F. DOCKWEILER
District Attorney

1940-1943

District Attorney John F. Dockweiler

John F. Dockweiler

The first big case for the new District Attorney is the Bugsy Siegel murder trial.

John Dockweiler served three terms in the U.S. Congress, from 1933 to 1939, before winning the 1940 District Attorney's race against incumbent Buron Fitts. One of his first responsibilities was to prepare for the prosecution of Bugsy Siegel for a gangland murder in Hollywood. The case, which finally went to trial in January 1942, was dismissed by the judge after the prosecution's star witness conveniently fell to his death from a New York hotel room window.

Dockweiler instituted reforms in the District Attorney's Office, including a ban on office investigators working as security guards at the Santa Anita racetrack. He created the Bureau of Crime Research and Prevention and reorganized the Bureau of Investigation, bringing it under civil-service regulation. This ended the disruptive practice of treating investigators' jobs as a matter of political patronage. Dockweiler was investigating allegations of police brutality in Los Angeles when he died suddenly of pneumonia in 1943.

Reprinted from FOR THE PEOPLE -- Inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 1850-2000 by Michael Parrish. ISBN 1-883318-15-7