Harold Haley

Harold Joseph Haley (November 14, 1904 – August 7, 1970) was a Superior Court judge in Marin County, California. He was taken hostage in his courtroom, along with several others, during the course of a trial, and was killed during the attempted escape of his captors with their hostages.

Harold Haley was born in San Rafael, California and graduated from San Rafael High School. After receiving his law degree from the St. Ignatius College; later known as the University of San Francisco) in 1928, he served as a San Rafael city attorney and as a Marin County district attorney.

In 1956, he was appointed to be a municipal court judge by California Governor Goodwin Knight, and he was named to the superior court by Governor Pat Brown in 1965. While an assistant district attorney, Haley married his high school classmate, Gertrude Ahern (born ca. 1904 - died June 6, 2002), at Mission San Rafael Arcángel on May 24, 1933. The couple had three daughters. Haley's niece, Maureen, is married to former Marin County assistant district attorney and Superior Court judge Gary Thomas, who was left paralyzed in the shooting spree in which Haley would later be killed.

On August 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson brought guns into Judge Haley's courtroom, where San Quentin inmate James McClain was on trial. McClain was freed along with two other San Quentin inmates, Ruchell Magee and William Christmas, who were present at the trial as witnesses. Jackson and the prisoners took Haley, Thomas, and three female jurors hostage and attempted to escape.

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