Richard F.C. Hayden, 73; Retired L.A. Judge

Richard Francis Cavanaugh Hayden, a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who co-created the “Bench Book” of procedure used by all California criminal court judges, has died. He was 73.

Hayden, who retired in 1981 after 20 years on the bench, died April 3 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of cancer.

As a judge, Hayden was known for his innovative sentencing, such as ordering two pickpockets to wear heavy mittens as a condition of probation.

Shortly before his retirement, he was appointed to handle Los Angeles’ controversial school desegregation case, but the assignment lasted only two days. His name was drawn from a shoe box on April 8, 1981, after Superior Court Judge Paul Egly’s withdrawal from the case after a stormy four years.

But Hayden was removed two days later when Bustop, the anti-busing organization, complained that he would be prejudiced because of his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union and National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Educated at UCLA and the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley, Hayden sought a third academic degree after his judicial retirement. In 1985, he earned his master’s in marriage, family and child counseling from Pacific Oaks College and became a licensed counselor.

“I’m happier working than not working,” he told the Los Angeles Times when he switched careers. “I’d be more interested in new things than what I had been doing.”

He is survived by his wife, Charlotte, of Pasadena; two sons, Rory of Oakland and Sloane of Portland, Ore., and three granddaughters.

The family has requested that any memorial contributions be made to the Boalt Hall School of Law, P.O. Box 4670, Berkeley, Calif. 94704-9894, or the Southern California Counseling Center, 5615 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. 90019.