Matthew Brady (district attorney)
Encyclopedia
Matthew Brady was a district attorney
in San Francisco from 1919 through 1943.
Brady defeated previous district attorney
Charles Fickert
, who was responsible for the conviction of Tom Mooney
and Warren Billings in the Preparedness Day bombing
.
Brady presided over numerous high profile cases in the nineteen twenties and thirties, including the three Fatty Arbuckle
murder trials, arrest and roundup of Communists, the Atherton Report produced in 1937 by Edwin Atherton
, which reports on investigations of police corruption
in San Francisco.
He was D.A. during the infamous sterilization plot charged by Ann Cooper Hewitt, 21-year-old heiress, against her mother, accused of sterilizing her daughter to thwart an inheritance dependent on the young woman having children.
By 1926, he was convinced that Mooney and Billings were unjustly convicted. In a letter to Governor Friend W. Richardson, Brady wrote "If these matters that have developed during the trials could be called to the attention of a court that had jurisdiction to grant a new trial, undoubtedly a new trial would be granted. Furthermore, if a new trial were granted, there would be no possibility of convicting Mooney or Billings."
In 1935, he empaneled a grand jury and hired private investigator Edwin Atherton
to report on police corruption in the San Francisco Police Department
.
He was defeated for reelection by Pat Brown
in 1943, which was the second time the two had competed for the office.
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
in San Francisco from 1919 through 1943.
Brady defeated previous district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
Charles Fickert
Charles Fickert
Charles Marron Fickert was lawyer, politician, and American football player and coach. He was the district attorney of San Francisco from 1909 until 1920, best known for prosecuting Thomas Mooney and Warren Billings for the Preparedness Day bombing of 1916.-College and football career:Born in...
, who was responsible for the conviction of Tom Mooney
Thomas Mooney
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Mooney was an American political activist and labor leader, who was convicted with Warren K. Billings of the San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing of 1916...
and Warren Billings in the Preparedness Day bombing
Preparedness Day bombing
The Preparedness Day Bombing was a bombing in San Francisco, California on July 22, 1916, when the city held a parade in honor of Preparedness Day, in anticipation of the United States' imminent entry into World War I. During the parade a suitcase bomb was detonated, killing ten and wounding...
.
Brady presided over numerous high profile cases in the nineteen twenties and thirties, including the three Fatty Arbuckle
Fatty Arbuckle
Roscoe Conkling "Fatty" Arbuckle was an American silent film actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. Starting at the Selig Polyscope Company he eventually moved to Keystone Studios where he worked with Mabel Normand and Harold Lloyd...
murder trials, arrest and roundup of Communists, the Atherton Report produced in 1937 by Edwin Atherton
Edwin Atherton
Edwin Newton Atherton was born in Washington D.C. and served as a Foreign Service Officer, BOI Agent, Private Investigator and later, appointed head of the college athletics organization, the Pacific Coast Conference in the 1940s.Atherton studied law at Georgetown University and was said to be a...
, which reports on investigations of police corruption
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
in San Francisco.
He was D.A. during the infamous sterilization plot charged by Ann Cooper Hewitt, 21-year-old heiress, against her mother, accused of sterilizing her daughter to thwart an inheritance dependent on the young woman having children.
By 1926, he was convinced that Mooney and Billings were unjustly convicted. In a letter to Governor Friend W. Richardson, Brady wrote "If these matters that have developed during the trials could be called to the attention of a court that had jurisdiction to grant a new trial, undoubtedly a new trial would be granted. Furthermore, if a new trial were granted, there would be no possibility of convicting Mooney or Billings."
In 1935, he empaneled a grand jury and hired private investigator Edwin Atherton
Edwin Atherton
Edwin Newton Atherton was born in Washington D.C. and served as a Foreign Service Officer, BOI Agent, Private Investigator and later, appointed head of the college athletics organization, the Pacific Coast Conference in the 1940s.Atherton studied law at Georgetown University and was said to be a...
to report on police corruption in the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
.
He was defeated for reelection by Pat Brown
Pat Brown
Edmund Gerald "Pat" Brown, Sr. was the 32nd Governor of California, serving from 1959 to 1967, and the father of current Governor of California Jerry Brown.-Background:...
in 1943, which was the second time the two had competed for the office.