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Attorney Frank DeSimone, 55, dies Sudden death shocks legal community Frank DeSimone, a former prosecutor and founding partner of the Jackson County Public Defender's Office, died early Friday at his Medford home, apparently of a heart attack. DeSimone's death came as a shock to others in the legal community, who said he was among the most respected and best liked attorneys in the area. "He was very bright, engaging and charming in that old-world Italian way," John Eads, a former law partner, said Friday afternoon. "People who found themselves in trouble found someone they could rely on ... and someone beyond a lawyer, a good and decent human being." DeSimone, 55, graduated from law school at the University of Southern California in 1971. He came to the Rogue Valley that year and went to work for the Jackson County District Attorney's Office. When he left the office in 1981, he was the chief deputy district attorney. After leaving the prosecutor's office, he went into private practice and then, in 1985, was among the founding partners of the Public Defenders Office. He later returned to private practice, where he specialized in criminal defense work. His life and his death touched many people in the criminal justice system. "He certainly had lots of friends in the law-enforcement community and in the whole criminal justice system," said Lt. Tim George, commander of the Criminal Investigations Division for the Medford Police Department. "He was as honest as the day is long and just a good person. "We deal with death all the time," said George, "but every once in awhile one comes along that shakes you to your very roots. This was one of them." Justin Smith, who was Jackson County's district attorney from 1968 to 1988, called DeSimone "one of the best trial attorneys I've ever seen and one of the very finest men I've ever known." "I don't know anybody who didn't like Frank," Smith said. Perhaps there were a few, however. "The only people I can think of who didn't have good things to say about Frank were in the state pen," said Eads, "because he put them there." DeSimone and Smith were co-prosecutors in the murder trial of Manuel Cortez, who was sentenced to two life terms in prison after his conviction in the 1979 killings of two 11-year-old Ashland girls. DeSimone is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two sons, Leon, 13, and Tony, 10. A memorial service has been set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Medford. Rogue Valley Funeral Alternatives is handling the arrangements. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA