Earl L. Hanson, a prominent criminal defense attorney who successfully defended pornography star John Holmes, died Saturday of a heart attack. He was 67.
Hanson represented about 3,000 defendants during a four-decade career.
The Criminal Justice Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association recently named Hanson as attorney of the year. He was best known for representing Holmes, who was charged with murdering four people in 1981. Hanson and Egers won a jury verdict of not guilty, though Holmes' former wife testified the actor told her he was present during the slayings.
