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San Francisco District Attorney's Office
SFH 93  
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Series 1 Trial Transcripts 1918

Physical Description: 0.5 Linear Feet 1 manuscript box
box 1, folder 1-3

Grand Jury transcript of Baker St. "vice" Investigation 1918

General

Three copies of transcript, one of which is complete.
box 1, folder 4

People of the State of California vs. Ralph E.G. Teichmann, Defendant Trial Transcript 1918

Scope and Contents

Carbon copy of typewritten transcript of testimony in Teichmann’s trial for sex perversions (July 11-12, 1918) following grand jury investigation of 2525 “Baker Street vice club.” Assistant district attorney Alexander O’Grady prosecuted the case; Arnold O. Lackenbach defended Teichmann. Witnesses testifying included: Oscar S. Franck; Charles Goff; M. J. Hughes; William R. Soady; Bert Lyttle.
Files contain one trial transcript and one photocopy for preservation.
box 1, folder 5

People of the State of California vs. Ralph E.G. Teichmann, Defendant Trial Transcript (Preservation Copy) 1918

 

Series 2 San Francisco graft trials 1935-1944 (bulk 1935-1937)

Physical Description: 2.1 Linear Feet 2 oversize flat boxes

Scope and Contents

Two oversize volumes of newspaper clippings covering the investigation into graft and corruption within the San Francisco Police Department. The independent investigation was led by Edwin Atherton of Atherton & Dunn, who was hired by Mayor Angelo Rossie and the Board of Supervisors. The Atherton Report was published in March 1937.
box 2

Aug. 29, 1935- June 2, 1937

box 3

June 3 - Nov. 29, 1937 and Feb. 17 - May 11, 1944

 

Series 3 Clipping service coverage of District Attorney's Office 1947-1954

Physical Description: 4.1 Linear Feet 3 oversize flat boxes

Scope and Contents

Staple-bound oversize paper volumes compiled by a clipping service to track news of the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. At least some of the volumes are labeled inside with tags from Allen's Press Clipping Bureau.
Most pages have clippings with "1238" marked in red pencil, with the name of the District Attorney , D.A. official, or the D.A.'s office underlined.
Clippings are daily and come primarily from San Francisco and San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, including the Chronicle , News , Examiner , and People's World . Coverage includes criminal cases in which the District Attorney's Office would typically get involved, including vice, graft, juvenile delinquency, and violent crimes; together with some coverage of the presence of the District Attorney's Office at public functions and the District Attorney's positions on City issues. The San Francisco District Attorneys during this time period were Edmund Gerald (Pat) Brown, who served 1943-1950, and Thomas C. Lynch, who served 1951-1964.

Arrangement

Arranged by date, with original volume number given when available. Missing Numbers 12-13 (Feb. 14, 1948-Jan. 13, 1949); Oct. 4, 1949-Nov. 9, 1950; and June 22-Oct. 1, 1951.
box 4

Jan. 19, 1947 - Sept. 15, 1949

box 5

Sept. 15, 1949 - March 7, 1952

box 6

March 8, 1952 - Jan. 7, 1954

 

Series 4 Case clippings 1945-1968 (bulk 1955-1966) bulk

Physical Description: 3.3 Linear Feet 4 oversize flat boxes

Scope and Contents

Paperbound volumes of local newspaper clippings covering assorted San Francisco criminal cases and civil disobedience demonstrations. Titles of each volume reflect original labeling on front covers, where covers are intact. Dates reflect year of crime, with clippings coverage sometimes spanning before and after.

Arrangement

Arranged by year of case.
box 7

Mansfeldt Trial 1945-1949

Scope and Contents

In Oct. 1945, Mrs. Irene Mansfeldt, socialite and former Fresno Raisin Day Queen, murdered Nurse Vada Martin, whom she suspected of having an affair with her husband, physician Dr. John H. Mansfeldt. He subsequently committed suicide. She pled not guilty by reason of insanity and was convicted of manslaughter. She served twenty-five months in Tehachapi and was subsequently released on parole.
box 8

Gambling probe 1955

Scope and Contents

Covers a series of gambling raids called for by the San Francisco Grand Jury and directed by the District Attorney Thomas Lynch and Chief of Inspectors James English. The vice squad that carried out the raids had been created under Mayor Robinson. The gambling raids led to a Grand Jury probe of the San Francisco Police Department, focusing on gambling and vice payoffs, and later, on callhouse activities of Mabel Malotte. Includes insert of clippings on Mabel Malotte from 1954.
box 8

Marcus Kidnap 1955

Scope and Contents

Betty Jean Benedicto kidnapped newborn baby Robert Marcus from Mount Zion Hospital in Stockton on Sept. 19, 1955. Her trial was suspended because she was declared insane and committed to Mendocino State Hospital. The baby was recovered and returned to his parents.
box 8

Lucas trial 1957

Scope and Contents

Rose Lucas went on trial for the murder of her husband Joseph, a California Highway Patrol officer, whom she shot in Dec. 1956. She claimed self-defense as a result of his ongoing abuse of her. Her children testified on her behalf and a jury convicted her of voluntary manslaughter.
box 8

Rapist-sadist case 1957

Scope and Contents

A 19-year-old nursing student was abducted at gunpoint from her date in Golden Gate Park on July 20, 1957 and raped. Suspect parolee Alvin Rexinger was accused and then cleared when Melvin Bakkerud confessed in early August. Some clippings also concern sexual assaults on other girls and/or women that are potentially-related to the case.
Includes a few pages of clippings about San Quentin's Death Row, from the San Francisco News, Jan. 3-10, 1955.
box 8

G. J. [Grand Jury] Giants Stadium inquiry 1958-1959

Scope and Contents

News clippings taken from the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco News, Call-Bulletin, and San Francisco Examiner reporting on the grand jury’s probe into the financing of the construction of the new San Francisco Giants stadium at Candlestick Park.
North, Henry Christopher, George Harney, Charles
box 8

Kroeger case 1962

Scope and Contents

Iva and Ralph Kroeger went on trial for the murder of Jay Arenson and his ex-wife Mildred Arenson, whose bodies were found buried under the basement of the Kroeger's house in the Outer Mission on Aug. 20 and 21st, 1962. Mildred had operated a hotel in Santa Rosa in which the Kroegers owned a business interest. After the murder, Iva bought out the hotel and disappeared; she was found in September and brought to trial. Both Iva and Ralph were found guilty of first degree murder on March 19, 1963, and both were sentenced to death. Iva had a sanity trial, was ruled sane, and then received a life term in a second penalty trial ordered by the Supreme Court on technical grounds. Ralph's sentence was reduced to life in prison, where he died in 1966.
box 8

Hoskins and Lucero case 1963

Scope and Contents

Albert Benjamin Lucero hired teenager Rudy Hoskings to throw lye in the face of Harry Goldman, a delicatessen owner in the Fillmore. Lucero pled guilty and said his motive was that deli helper Esther Dumo left him and was friendly with Goldman. Goldman lost an eye as a result of the attack.
box 8

"Towaway King" Livingston 1963

Scope and Contents

Nat Livingston, aka "Towaway King," ran self-service parking lots in San Francisco. He was indicted by a County grand jury for auto theft and conspiracy for running a towaway racket from his lots. The County then passed a stop-gap ordinance restricting tows from self-service lots.
box 9

Civil rights clippings 1964-1966

Scope and Contents

Covers local civil rights demonstrations--including sit-ins, pickets, and other forms of protest-- in the 1960s at the Sheraton-Palace Hotel, Auto Row, Mel's Drive-in, and other businesses and sites, as well as the subsequent trials of demonstrators.
box 10

Cop-burglar case 1965

Scope and Contents

Two police officers and three ex-convicts were charged with burglary of the home of ex-madam Sally Stanford in Pacific Heights, San Francisco. All but one of the accused were convicted. The case was also known as the "Sally Stanford Burglary Caper."
box 10

Tax fee scandal 1965

Scope and Contents

San Francisco Assessor Russell L. Wolden was tried and convicted of bribery and conspiracy in 1965. Wolden was disbarred by the State Supreme Court in 1970.
box 10

Slaying union boss (D. Wilson) 1966

Scope and Contents

Dow Wilson, union leader of Painters Local 4 in San Francisco, was shot dead half a block from the Labor Temple on 16th and Capp St. on Apr. 5, 1966. In a related shooting on May 7, Alameda County Painters Union official Lloyd Green was also shot dead. Ben Rasnick, East Bay Painters Union official and Secretary of Painters Union District Council 16 was convicted in the Wilson case, together with Norman Call and Max Ward, trustees of the Sacramento Painters Union welfare fund. Rasnick was also accused of ordering the assassination of Green. The shootings apparently were motivated by issues of financial corruption within the fund.
Collection Contents
Trial Transcripts
San Francisco graft trials
Clipping service coverage of District Attorney's Office
Case clippings
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