John Van de Kamp

John Van de Kamp
Van de Kamp in 2012
28th Attorney General of California
In office January 3, 1983 – January 7, 1991
Governor	George Deukmejian
Preceded by	George Deukmejian
Succeeded by	Dan Lungren
37th Los Angeles County District Attorney
In office July 1, 1975 – July 1, 1981
Preceded by	Joseph P. Busch
Succeeded by	Robert Philibosian
Personal details
Born	John Kalar Van de Kamp (1936-02-07)February 7, 1936 Pasadena, California, U.S.
Died	March 14, 2017(2017-03-14) (aged 81) Pasadena, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Alma mater	Dartmouth College (A.B.) Stanford Law School (J.D.)

John Van de Kamp (February 7, 1936 – March 14, 2017) was an American politician. He served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1975 until 1981, and then as the 28th Attorney General of California from 1983 until 1991.

John Kalar Van de Kamp was born on February 7, 1936. He graduated from Dartmouth College and from Stanford Law School in 1959. He served as assistant U.S. Attorney and later became the first federal public defender in Los Angeles. He was appointed District Attorney after the previous incumbent died in office.

During his tenure as Los Angeles County District Attorney, Van de Kamp dramatically increased the number of female deputy district attorneys in the office. He also created special units to focus on gangs, sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and career criminals, and a unit to monitor crime in the entertainment industry. He set in place programs to help victims and witnesses, as well as quick response teams in cases of police officer-involved shootings.

Van de Kamp was criticized for his office's handling of the Hillside Strangler case. Specifically, the case against defendant Angelo Buono was based largely on the testimony of co-defendant Kenneth Bianchi, who became uncooperative and unreliable, claiming to have multiple personalities and repeatedly changing his story. Van de Kamp was assured by his prosecutors that because of Bianchi's behavior, conviction of Buono could not be secured. Van de Kamp accepted their judgment and allowed the trial prosecutor, Roger Kelly, to move to dismiss all 10 murder charges against Buono and release him with an eye toward trying him for pandering.

The judge in the case, Ronald M. George, however, felt enough evidence existed against Buono to justify proceeding to trial, and George took the unconventional step of denying the motion to dismiss. Van de Kamp then declared a conflict of interest with regard to his office continuing the prosecution, as his office had already come to the conclusion that they could not win the case. Judge George accepted the conflict and reassigned the case, moving it to the California Attorney General's office under George Deukmejian. The prosecutors from the Attorney General's office were able to overcome the problems with Bianchi's behavior, and went on to secure convictions on nine of the 10 counts and a life sentence against Buono.