Honorees

Hon. Michael William Brennan

1942-1985

Born June 14, 1942 in Indianapolis, Brennan received his undergraduate degree from Wabash College, a small liberal arts college for men in Indiana, and his law degree from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California.  Prior to law school he was a social worker and he worked as a juvenile probation officer during law school.  His travels took him to Ireland, where he attended Trinity College in Dublin and worked as a gardener; to France, where he worked as a hotel manager; to Japan, where he taught English; and to Guatemala, where he enjoyed time as an amateur archaeologist.  He was admitted to the California Bar in 1973. 

Judge Donald Smith remembered Brennan as a young lawyer:  “He tried cases with amazing success in my courtroom where many of his arguments bordered on impropriety.  But he would make them with such grace and style that even his opponents would be touched by his charm.”  “He always tried to act as a mediator among other judges.  His blarney helped him through many a trying moment.”  He loved to travel and to teach.  “He was proud to be a judge.  In the years prior to his death, his reputation was growing as a man who had that special zest for living – he had that special appreciation of every sunrise or sunset.” During his last year, while battling cancer, he continued to come to work, “day after day, when the pain and suffering must have been overwhelming, [yet] he never wallowed in self-pity.” (Dicta, November 1985).

He worked as a staff attorney at the Defenders Program from the time of his admission to the Bar in 1973, and upon taking the bench, he was appointed as the supervisor of the El Cajon Defenders Office.  (Dicta May 1979).  He recounted an amusing story during an arraignment of a defendant who had stolen a lamp from the Defenders Office.  The defendant sought the replacement of his appointed attorney claiming that the office “hated him so much that they were unable to effectively represent him.”  Judge Brennan re-assigned the case and did not remind the defendant that he had been the attorney in the Defenders Office who had retrieved the stolen lamp.  (Id.)

Les Dubow, a Deputy District Attorney who appeared in Judge Brennan’s Municipal Courtroom in El Cajon and was a personal friend, stated that Brennan was “extremely proud of the legal system and his place in it.  He was always eager to work.  Much to the chagrin of his clerk and bailiff, Michael would walk the halls looking for more cases to handle.  He truly loved being a judge.  He enjoyed speaking to various civic organizations about the court and the profession.  In short, Michael enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed him.”  “Michael enjoyed sailing and traveling.  He loved to talk about his adventures on the Orient Express, his school days in Ireland, and his quasi archeological expeditions to Rome, Egypt, and Mexico.  He was a man on the go, enchanted with life and eager to unlock the mysteries of the past.”  He was “the eternal optimist.  He was genuinely interested in people and was always on hand to lend aid and comfort to those in need.”  (Id.)

“On the bench Michael projected three characteristics:  fairness, compassion, and strength of conviction.  To quote a well respected member of the defense bar, ‘If you’ve got it coming – stay away from Judge Brennan.’ He quickly earned a reputation for sending more El Cajon defendants to prison than all other Judges, yet time and again defense attorney ‘Arbuckled’ their way to Brennan for that break they so desperately needed for their client.”  In one petty theft case, Brennan personally followed the defendant’s progress with weekly, in person, progress reports.  (From letters to Dicta).

Friends reported that after leaving a doctor’s office who had opined that he had only two months to live, Brennan spoke at a luncheon of the Foothills Bar Association on the future of the El Cajon Superior Court, and told a colleague that “I want to die on the bench, with style and serve those I love.”  “He functioned as a Judge, husband, father and friend when he was in such pain and physical agony he had to be helped in and out of cars, on and off the bench.  Despite all this, his mental ability, his wit, sense of humor, and ability to function as an outstanding Municipal Court Judge continued until he was taken from us on September 30, 1985.” (Id.)

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