Jul. 6, 2013

Judges, lawyers wax dramatic at historical play

Some of the chapters of the state's fourth Chief Justice David S. Terry's life — which included the shooting of a sitting U.S. senator and the assault of a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge — were dramatized in a play June 25 at the Ronald Reagan building downtown by a group of state and federal judges. "Chief Justice David S. Terry and Federalism: A Life and a Doctrine in Three Acts," was written by Littler Mendelson PC partner Richard H. Rahm and narrated by Rahm and Kaye Scholer LLP partner Daniel Grunfeld. Sponsors included the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Historical Society, the California Supreme Court Historical Society, the 9th Judicial Circuit Historical Society, the California Historical Society and Littler Mendelson. Many of the performances were lively. Supreme Court Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar was particularly convincing as Sarah Althea Hill, Terry's wife. And U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew was animated, at times wildly so, in several roles. U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guilford was perhaps the most earnest, portraying a defiant David Neagle, the deputy U.S. Marshal who shot and killed Terry in the line of duty. Justices Norman L. Epstein and Laurie D. Zelon, both of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, and U.S. District Court Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. were more subdued. But Hatter and Epstein, who donned a beard and stepped in at the last minute for Supreme Court Justice Marvin R. Baxter to play the role of Terry, drew laughter from the capacity crowd by wielding a plastic Bowie knife — a popular prop that changed hands a couple of times during the show. — Blake Edwards