Angelo Branca

Angelo Ernest Branca (21 March 1903 - 3 October 1984) was a judge in British Columbia's Supreme Court and Court of Appeal from 1963 until 1978, a prominent Italian-Canadian leader, especially of the Vancouver Italian community, and a Canadian amateur middleweight boxing champion.

Early life

Angelo Branca was born in what is now a ghost town on Mount Sticker on Vancouver Island to Italian immigrant parents. Branca's father, Filippo, was a miner before joining the Klondike Gold Rush and becoming one of its few success stories after returning with $10 000. The family eventually settled in Vancouver's East End, where Angelo attended school at Lord Strathcona Elementary and Britannia Secondary schools. [cite book| last =Itter| first =Carole| coauthors =Daphne Marlatt| title =Opening Doors: Vancouver's East End | publisher =Sound Heritage/Aural History Project, Province of British Columbia| date =1979 | location =Victoria, BC| pages =26-32 ]

Early career

Branca began practicing law in 1926, and opened his law office on the second story of the Royal Bank building at Main and Hastings Streets. Many of his early cases were defending local bootleggers and he earned a reputation as "A dear friend of the little guy" for his willingness to provide his services "pro bono", particularly during the lean depression years. [cite web| last =Davis| first =Chuck| title =Chronology: 1984| publisher =History of Metropolitan Vancouver| url =http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/chronology1984.htm| accessdate = 2006-12-04cite web| last =Doyle| first =Kelly| title = Best Practices & Pro Bono | work =Bar Talk| publisher =Canadian Bar Association| date =2003 August| url =http://www.cba.org/bc/CBA_Publications/bartalk_08_03/guest_doyle.aspx| accessdate = 2006-12-04 ] Branca soon earned a reputation as one of the most formidable defense lawyers in the province, attracting a rich and powerful clientele in addition to the downtrodden in his old neighbourhood. Throughout his career, he defended 63 people charged with murder and only four of those were convicted.

Career highlights

In 1938, Branca became the youngest prosecutor in the province. His first case was to prosecute unemployed rioters who, after being brutally ejected from a sitdown strike at the post office paraded east down Hastings Street, smashing windows along the way.

The brutality of the RCMP in its treatment of the downtrodden protesters provoked a major public outcry. The next day, ten thousand people turned out to a protest at the Powell Street Grounds (today's Oppenheimer Park). Because there was little chance of a jury of peers convicting the rioters, Branca convinced the Attorney-General to stay most of the charges, and of the 23 charged, only two were convicted but received only small fines that were paid by sympathizers.

Other notorious local cases Branca worked included the defense of 17 Vancouver Police officers that were purged from the force in 1935 by the reform administration of Mayor Gerry McGeer. Almost all of them were reinstated and exonerated thanks to Branca's efforts. Also in 1935, Branca defended Vancouver's "Public Enemy number one," local brothel keeper and bootlegger, Joe Celona. During the Second World War, Branca came to the defense of Italians who had been interned as a threat to national security. Branca was also a lead attorney in prosecuting the "Mulligan Affair" in 1955, in which the police chief was found to have established an elaborate "pay off" system with segments of the criminal underworld. [cite book| last =Macdonald| first =Ian| coauthors = Betty O'Keefe| title =The Mulligan Affair: Top Cop on the Take| publisher =Heritage House| date =1997| location =Vancouver| id = ISBN 1-895811-45-7 ]

Later life

Branca was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1963, where he served until his retirment in 1978.cite book| last =Moore| first =Vincent| title =Gladiator of the Courts: Angelo Branca| publisher =Douglas & McIntyre| date =1981|location =Vancouver| id = ISBN 0-88894-323-7 ] A statue of Christopher Columbus was erected in 1986 on Clark Drive at the "Piazza Italia". It was dedicated to Branca for his leadership in the local Italian community and was donated by the Italian City of Genoa. In 2000, the monument mysteriously disappeared, apparently stolen, only to later reappear at the Italian Garden at Hastings Park. The likely reason for the guerrilla relocation is that the original Clark Drive site, to the dismay of the Italian community, became a busy thoroughfare for transport trucks and hence unfriendly to pedestrian traffic. [cite news|title =Memory Loss|publisher =Vancouver Courier| date =2006-06-28| url =http://www.vancourier.com/issues06/065106/news/065106nn1.html|accessdate=2006-12-04]

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