Francis J. Heney

Candidate Biography:

Francis Joseph Heney
Born: March 17, 1859 in Lima, New York
Married: Rebecca Wentworth McMullin (m. 1906, d. 1911), Edna I. Van Winkle (m. 1915)*
Died: October 31, 1937 in Santa Monica, CA

1893-1895: Attorney General for Arizona Territory
1905: US District Attorney for the District of Oregon
1906: Assistant District Attorney, San Francisco County District Attorneys office
1908: Candidate for San Francisco County District Attorney (Lost)
1912: Delegate, Republican National Convention

• LEGAL TROUBLES: Arrested for the murder of Dr. John Handy (ex-husband of one of Heney's clients) but found not guilty due to self-defense.
• OUCH: During a corruption trial in 1906, Heney was shot in the head by a prospective juror who he had dismissed. It was this shooting (and hospitalization) of Heney that led to Hiram Johnson becoming the prosecutor in the Abe Ruef/Eugene Schmitz case.