Longtime NYC prosecutor, former judge Richard Brown dies

By The Associated Press 05/04/2019

FILE- In this June 11, 2015 file photo, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown speaks to reporters during a news conference in New York. The longtime New York City prosecutor and judge who presided over the arraignment of the notorious "Son of Sam" killer died Friday, May 3, 2019. He was 86 Years old. . (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

A longtime New York City prosecutor and judge who presided over the arraignment of the notorious “Son of Sam” killer has died.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown died Friday at the age of 86. His death was announced Saturday by Chief Assistant District Attorney John M. Ryan.

Brown was first appointed district attorney in 1991 by then-Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Democrat. He was re-elected to six terms in office but announced in January that he would not seek re-election this year.

FILE- In this Aug. 9, 2017 file photo, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, who in 1977 was the supervising Brooklyn judge in the arraignment of David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” serial killer, is seated at his desk during an interview in New York. Brown died Friday. May 3, 2019. He was 86. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Brown was a judge for 18 years before serving as a prosecutor and was still known as “Judge Brown.”

He was on the bench for the 1977 arraignment of “Son of Sam” serial killer David Berkowitz. Brown ordered Berkowitz to undergo psychiatric testing and maximum security confinement.