STEPHEN (STEVE) BERLIN

Stephen (Steve) Berlin Stephen (Steve) Berlin passed away from cancer on December 23, 2012 in his home in Davis, California at the age of 66. Steve is survived by his loving wife of twenty-four years, Linda, his 18-year old son Eddie, his older brother Arnold and sister-in-law Barbara Berlin of Potomac, Maryland, nephews Justin, Kevin, Noah, and niece Danielle, his sister-in-law, Loraine Simard, and his brother-in-law, Archie Bell. Steve, who was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 8, 1946, was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended and graduated from the University of Chicago and Stanford Law School. For nearly 40 years thereafter, Steve was as a brilliant criminal defense attorney for several public defender offices and in private practice. He was hired by the Marin Public Defender's Office in November 1984 to help represent David Carpenter, who was later convicted and sentenced to death as the "Trailside Killer." Steve practiced law in Marin County between 1984 and 2002, when he and Linda resided in San Rafael. He was one of three Marin County criminal attorneys who founded Alternative Defenders, Inc. (ADI) in 1994, an agency that still provides private criminal defense lawyers to the Marin County courts for indigent defendants who cannot be represented by the Marin Public Defender's Office because of professional conflicts of interest. ADI was one of Steve's proudest achievements. Steve was an avid motorcyclist and a banjo player who loved bluegrass music. On February 2, 2013 at 2:00 p.m., there will be a public celebration of Steve's life in the Social Hall at Bet Haverim Synagogue, 1715 Anderson Road, Davis, California 95616.