Background
Gesell, Gerhard Alden was born on June 16, 1910 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Arnold Lucius and Beatrice (Chandler) Gesell.
Gesell, Gerhard Alden was born on June 16, 1910 in Los Angeles, California, United States. Son of Arnold Lucius and Beatrice (Chandler) Gesell.
Bachelor of Arts, Yale, 1932; Bachelor of Laws, Yale, 1935.
He presided over trials of the Watergate Seven in 1974. Born in Los Angeles, California, Gesell received an Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in 1932, and an Bachelor of Laws from Yale Law School in 1935. He was a Trial Attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1935 to 1940, and then a Technical Advisor to the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman from until 1941.
He was in private practice in Washington, District of Columbia from 1941 to 1967.
In 1945 and 1946, he served as chief Assistant Counsel for the Democrats" side during the Pearl Harbor hearings. He chaired the President"s Committee on Equal Opportunity in the Armed Forces from 1962 to 1964.
On November 29, 1967, Gesell was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Spottswood West. Robinson, III. Gesell was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 7, 1967, and received his commission on December 12, 1967. Watergate trials
In 1974, Gesell presided over trials of the so-called Watergate Seven, arising from dozens of felony charges in the Watergate scandal.
All the defendants had held cabinet rank or senior staff positions in the White House of President Richard Nixon.
Those convicted or pleading guilty in these trials were: John North. Mitchell, H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, Charles Colson, Gordon Strachan, and Robert Mardian. Kenneth West. Parkinson was acquitted. Iran-Contra trial
In 1989, Gesell was the presiding judge in the government"s case against National Security Adviser Oliver North, who was convicted of aiding and abetting obstruction of a congressional inquiry into the Iran-Contra arms sale.
North also was convicted of ordering the destruction of documents and accepting an illegal gratuity.
On July 5, 1989, Gesell probated North"s three-year prison sentence, but fined him $150,000, sentenced him to 1,200 hours community service and placed him on two years" probation. Gesell assumed senior status on January 22, 1993 and served in this status until his death four weeks later, in Washington, District of Columbia
Member American Bar Association, American Law Institute, American College Trial Lawyers, Phi Delta Phi, Zeta Psi. Clubs: Lawyers (Washington), Metropolitan (Washington). Casino (North Haven, Maine).
Married Marion Holliday Pike, September 19, 1936. Children: Peter Gerhard, Patricia Pike.