Honorees

Hon. Ronald Abernethy

1899-1995

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he emigrated to Toronto, Canada aboard a clipper ship with his family at the age of five.  He later became a naturalized United States citizen.  During the Depression, Judge Abernethy attended night school at Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles.  He worked his way through school during the days selling accounting supplies.  He passed the Bar examination in 1931 and started his own private practice in Pasadena.  In 1942, he became an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.  After commuting to San Diego for several years, he opened the first United States Attorney’s Office on the third floor of San Diego’s downtown federal courthouse on F Street.  During World War II, Abernethy advised the F.B.I. on security matters.

In 1946, he became a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego.  During his service as a prosecutor, he worked some of the most difficult and complex cases. His last responsibility was in the Sampsell case  – the notorious Seaboard Finance Company Bandit who terrorized San Diego for many months.  Recognizing his superb work in the District Attorney’s Office, Governor Earl Warren appointed him to the Bench, where he served with distinction.  He first presided over the Municipal Court.

He joined the Superior Court “in 1960, where he presided over serious murder,  kidnaping, bribery, and other felony cases as well as death penalty trials, including Joseph Bernard Morse, the eighteen-year-old who murdered his mother and invalid sister and then a cellmate. ”  (LA Times 2/5/60, 12/15/61, 8/7/64, 8/16/64, 10/26/70). He finished as Presiding Criminal Judge on the court before retiring in 1969. After retiring, Judge Abernethy returned on a pro tem appointment to impose a sentence on Michael English in 1977.  English had fled the jurisdiction after the jury in Abernethy’s courtroom had convicted him of four counts of burglary with intent to rape dorm students at the University of California at Irvine. English’s attorney convinced the court that the defendant had died, but in fact, he had assumed another name.  Seven years later, English was extradited from New York, when Judge Abernethy imposed a four year sentence.  (LA Times 7/21/77). Retirement did not conclude Judge Abernethy’s participation and service to the San Diego community.  He continued to serve for many years throughout the State as a Judge Pro Tem at the request of the Chief Justice.  He exerted a strong influence on the criminal justice system in his many years of service.  He died at the age of 96 in May 1995.  “He was a dignified, elegant man until his last breath.” (San Diego Union Tribune, May 23, 1995, p. B-5).

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