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Funeral of Pima Co. Public Defender

I went to the funeral of Bob Hooker, Pima Co. Public Defender, today. He was killed by somebody drag racing at 100 mph plus down a narrow urban street.

Tucson Community Center donated one of its halls for the event, and it was needed. I'd guess there were 600+ people there. Hooker was VERY well respected in the community, and had practiced here for decades.

One speaker was his former secretary, who'd been his ass't when he was a Superior Court judge, and went with him into private practice. She said he would go over to the courthouse for some motions in a paying case, and come back with some indigent to whom he'd volunteered services. When she pointed out that this guy wasn't going to help pay the overhead, Hooker would always respond, "I just can't help myself."

A damn good man (he was killed on his 44th wedding anniversary, to give one indication) and an excellent attorney. He and his deputy Bob Hirsch turned the office around from a demoralized and largely ineffective one, into one of the top five in the country. Instead of farming out murder cases, they brought in experienced attorneys, kept the cases in-house, and saved the county $22 million a year. As a result, the county had no problem giving them very nice offices, on the highest floor of a 22 story building, in the recently-vacated suites that used to belong to the oldest firm in town. Let's just say you don't see many PD offices with their type of accomodations!