Honorees

Ramon Castro

1926-2017

Ramon Castro was born on November 11, 1926 in the small mountain town of Monolith, CA. There, Ramon and his siblings attended a two-room Aqueduct Grammar School. After high school, Ramon served in the Merchant Marines for two years and then attended Santa Clara University for one year on a basketball scholarship. He transferred to Berkeley and received a B.A. degree in 1953. Afterwards, Ramon enlisted in the U.S. Army where he served as an infantry officer, weapons instructor and company commander. After his military service, Ramon attended the University of San Francisco Law School and received his law degree in 1961.

Upon graduating, Ramon moved to San Diego and went to work as a prosecutor in the San Diego City Attorney’s office for 2 years.? In 1963, he went into private practice, and in 1965, he took on the high-profile defense of Terry Pat Thompson, a Marine charged with the murder-by-torture death of his 17-month-old stepdaughter.? After a 3-week trial that was the subject of extensive media coverage, the jury found Thompson not guilty.?

The Thompson case served as a catalyst for Ramon’s success as a trial lawyer. In 1966, Ramon joined the law firm of Sheela, O’Laughlin, and Hughes, a firm that included future Criminal Justice Memorial honorees Barton C. Sheela, Jr., John F. O’Laughlin, and Peter J. Hughes. The firm went on to include other luminaries, including former U.S. Attorney Michael H. Walsh and San Diego Superior Court Judge Federico Castro, Ramon’s brother. At the firm, Ramon handled and successfully tried many high-profile cases in San Diego in both the State and Federal Courts and went several years without a loss in the San Diego Superior Courts.

Having earned a reputation as an exceptional trial lawyer, Ramon was admitted into the Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. His talents as an attorney were further recognized when Ramon was offered state and federal judgeships during the Jerry Brown and Jimmy Carter administrations, Ramon turned down the judgeships because he loved his role as a defense trial lawyer more than anything. In fact, Ramon told his friends that he knew at the age of 10 that he was going to be a criminal defense attorney because he was so drawn to standing up for the accused in a gladiatorial contest.?

Even though he decided against becoming a judge, Ramon made important contributions to the judiciary by accepting a role in the judicial selection process.? During the Governor Jerry Brown years, he helped Gov. Brown place a large number of minorities and women on the California state bench. He also served as a member of the U.S. Judge Nominating Commission in 1979; Federal Magistrate Merit Selection Panel for the Southern District of California, 1994-95; and the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference Senior Advisory Board, 1994-97.

He also mentored and supported young lawyers like former U.S. Attorney Gregory A. Vega who was the first Latino United States Attorney in the history of the Southern District of California. Mr. Vega said of Ramon ““Ramon Castro was such a positive role model for me and many other Latino lawyers.? Not only was he an outstanding trial attorney, but he set the bar for ethical behavior and how one should conduct oneself in and out of the courtroom. He was the consummate lawyer who will be missed, but never forgotten.”

Over the course of his career, Ramon was active in many professional organizations including:

The San Diego County Bar Association (Board and Officer); American Trial Lawyers Association; San Diego Trial Lawyers Association; National Association of Defense Counsel in Criminal Cases; and California Trial Lawyers Association. La Raza Lawyers of San Diego

Ramon was respected as an iconic and brilliant lawyer and esteemed for his selflessness and kindness to those that followed him. He was also featured as a Legends of the Bar by the San Diego County Bar Association. He is survived by his beloved wife, Marian, who was married to Ramon for 50 years, and with whom he shared a deep and spiritual relationship.

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