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S. ERNEST ROLL
District Attorney1951-1956
S. Ernest Roll
When D.A. William Simpson died, prospective successors inundated the Board of Supervisor with so many calls that some members had to disconnect their home telephones. Their choice was Chief Deputy D.A. Ernest Roll, 47, a veteran prosecutor. A native of Long Beach and graduate of USC Law School, Roll joined the DA's Office in 1931, where he returned after serving in the Navy during World War II.
The 1938 manslaughter conviction of Paul Wright for killing his wife and a friend was one of the cases that brought notoriety to Roll.
A 1950 report by Governor Earl Warren's Special Commission on Organized Crime criticized the Los Angeles District Attorney, Sheriff, and Police Department for their failure to cooperate with one another. As D.A., Roll responded by initiating what eventually became the Bureau of Investigation's 24-hour-command post. In 1951 he oversaw the swearing in of 60 D.A. investigators who were given peace officer status under a new law.
Roll won the D.A.'s election in 1952 and focused on juvenile crime, recommending that "vicious young hoodlums" be treated as adults. During his tenure, seven new D.A. offices were opened to serve municipal courts.
Roll was reelected in the June 1956 primary, having run unopposed, but was diagnosed with lung cancer and died 11 days before the November general election. This triggered a law that provided for the Board of Supervisors to fill a vacancy when a candidate is elected in the primary, but dies less than 40 days prior to the general election.
