Richard Gerstein | |
|---|---|
| State Attorney forMiami-Dade County, Florida | |
| In office 1956–1978 | |
| Succeeded by | Janet Reno |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard E. Gerstein (1923-09-05)September 5, 1923 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1992(1992-04-26) (aged 68) Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Miami (BBA andLLB) |
Richard E. Gerstein (September 5, 1923,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania – April 26, 1992,Miami,Florida) was an American lawyer and six-term State Attorney forMiami-Dade County.[1] He is perhaps best known for obtaining the first conviction in theWatergate scandal, of Watergate burglarBernard Barker, and uncovering the first connections between the botched burglary and PresidentRichard Nixon'sreelection campaign.[1][2][3]
Gerstein was born inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, in 1923.[4] He graduated from theUniversity of Miami with aBachelor of Business Administration in 1947 and aBachelor of Laws in 1949[4] and practiced law.
He served as aUnited States Army Air Forces navigator. During a bombing raid over Germany, he lost his right eye. He was also awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for guiding his crippled bomber back to England from a mission over Ludwigshaven, Germany.[1]
In 1956, he was elected to his first term as State Attorney forDade County,[1] at age 33 the youngest state attorney in Florida history[5] and the first Jew elected to a countywide office in Florida.[6]
In 1963, anti-semite Donald Branch was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for bombing the home of Don Shoemaker, editor of theMiami Herald, and plotting to assassinate several Jewish Miami community leaders, among them Gerstein.[7]
Gerstein launched a month-long inquiry into the controversialfirst Liston-Clay (Muhammad Ali) fight inMiami Beach in 1964, which found no evidence that the boxing match had been fixed;Sonny Liston had a sore shoulder during the fight that handicapped him.[8]
That same year, he lost a high-profile case againstincestuous loversCandace Mossler and her nephewMelvin Powers, charged with murdering Mossler's millionaire husband.[3]
During his 1968 reelection campaign, Gerstein was accused of taking a bribe by his Republican opponent,Shelby Highsmith, and theMiami Herald.[9] However, the grand jury was not convinced; it indicted the alleged bribe giver and another accuser on the charge ofperjury and also rebuked theHerald.[9]
In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, police arrested five burglars who had broken into the headquarters of theDemocratic National Committee in theWatergate Office Building in Washington, DC, and wiretapped at least one telephone.Martin Dardis, Gerstein's chief investigator, was tipped off about a connection between aMiami bank andBernard Barker, one of the burglars.[10][11] A check for $25,000 had recently been deposited in Barker's account. Gerstein launched an investigation, suspecting the operation was based inKey Biscayne, a village in his county; the money linked the burglars to Nixon's reelection campaign.[6]
In December 1977, partway through his sixth term, he resigned, effective January 20.[6] He was succeeded by a former aide,[6]Janet Reno.
He became a partner in the law firm of Bailey, Gerstein, Rashkind & Dresnick.[4]
In 1991, he representedPaul Reubens, who playedPee-wee Herman; Reubens pleadedno contest to charges ofindecent exposure.[1]
On April 26, 1992, the 68-year-old Gerstein suffered a fatal heart attack.[1] He was taken toMiami Heart Institute, but was dead on arrival. By chance, Richard Nixon, the man Gerstein had helped to bring down, was brought to Miami Heart Institute the same night, for a sprained ankle.[12]
Gerstein received the Rockefeller Public Service Award in 1979.[13]
In 1992, Miami's courthouse was renamed the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building.[14]