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JOHN D. FREDERICKS
District Attorney

1903-1915

District Attorney John D. Fredericks

John D. Fredericks

Fredericks comes to national attention for his prosecution of the Los Angeles Times Bombing in 1910.

John D. Fredericks came to California in 1891, taught at Whittier State School, and was admitted to the California Bar Association in 1895. He became a deputy district attorney in 1899 and was elected to three terms as District Attorney -- 1902, 1906 and 1910. At the Times bombing trial, in 1911, during the complicated negotiations that ended the trail, Fredericks insisted that both John and James McNamara, the accused bombers, must plead guilty.

Fredericks, who reminded some observers of Abraham Lincoln, lost the governor's race in 1914 but was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1923.

Reprinted from FOR THE PEOPLE -- Inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office 1850-2000 by Michael Parrish. ISBN 1-883318-15-7