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FRED N. HOWSER
District Attorney

1943-1946

District Attorney Fred N. Howser

Fred N. Howser

Fred Howser, 37, succeeded John Dockweiler by appointment of the Board of Supervisors, a choice that surprised many people who thought that the new district attorney would be an office insider. Howser was a graduate of USC Law School and, in the late 1930’s, became Chief Deputy City Attorney of Long Beach.

He worked to "clean up" Los Angeles, handling complaints of "bar girls" fleecing servicemen, and posing for cameras as he lighted a pile of obscene photos. Soon after taking office in 1943, Howser and Deputy District Attorney John Barnes prosecuted the death-penalty murder trial of previously convicted killer Louise Peete. Howser won the 1944 district attorney election and, two years later successfully ran for California Attorney General.

His brother-in-law was Ted Sten, for years the head of the District Attorney’s Long Beach Branch Office.