- Mr. Brazelton is also active in the local peace officers association, where he has served as a member of the Board of Directors in 1987 and as President in 1991.
- Son of Alva and Doris Brazelton.
- Stanislaus County District Attorney Jim Brazelton has handpicked Deputy District Attorney Rick Distaso and David Harris to try the death penalty case against Peterson.
- Mr. Brazelton was a native of Goldendale, Wash.
- Among Brazelton's friends was Ron Grantski, Laci Peterson stepfather, who met the prosecutor at the beginning of the trial and described him as a straight-shooter.
- Mr. Brazelton joined the Stanislaus County District Attorney's office in 1985, was appointed as district attorney in 1996 and retired July 31, 2005. His law enforcement career began in 1963 in Bakersfield. In 1968 Mr. Brazelton accepted a position with the Orange Police Department while attending Western State University College of Law in Anaheim. He received his law degree in 1974 and spent the next 11 years in private practice.
- James C. Brazelton was appointed by the Board of Supervisors on March 19, 1996 to fill the unexpired term of the retiring District Attorney. Mr. Brazelton was sworn in as District Attorney on March 29, 1996.
- Mr. Brazelton served on the board of directors and as president of numerous law enforcement and community organizations. He continued to serve on the board of directors of the Carole Sund-Carrington Memorial Reward Fund. He was a long standing member of Modesto 500 Lions Club and Stanislaus Civil War Association.
- In 1968, Mr. Brazelton accepted a position with the City of Orange Police Department, working his way through the ranks as Patrolman, Detective, Watch Commander, and as Police Sergeant. During a part of this employment, he also attended Western State University, College of Law, in Anaheim, California, and upon graduating in 1974 terminated his employment with the City of Orange, and spent the next eleven years in the private practice of law.
- Father of Mark Brazelton, Matt Brazelton, Chris Brazelton and James J. Bushner.
- Throughout Mr. Brazelton's professional career, he has been actively employed in Law Enforcement. He began in the City of Bakersfield, where from 1963 through 1968, he served with the Bakersfield City Police Department as a Patrolman and then as a Detective.
- Brazelton died shortly after 4 p.m., leaving behind a wife, Patricia, as well as three sons and a stepson. Shipley said family members may release a statement today. An announcement about funeral arrangements will follow.
- On November 22, 1998, Mr. Brazelton was elected District Attorney and continues to serve the citizens of the County of Stanislaus.
- Brazelton resigned in July 2005, saying he had been offered a lucrative position with a San Clemente firm that operates a bad-check collection program.
- Mr. Brazelton came to the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office in 1985, and served primarily in the felony trial division where, as a Senior Deputy District Attorney, he had responsibility for many high-profile homicides.
- He also kept in touch with friends such as Ron Grantski, the longtime companion of Sharon Rocha, Laci Peterson's mother. The first time they met, Grantski and his family were deluged by the media hordes that followed the search for Laci and the trial of her husband, Scott.
- In January 1993, Mr. Brazelton was appointed Chief Deputy District Attorney for the Felony Superior Court Division. In August 1995, Mr. Brazelton was named as the Chief DeputyDistrict Attorney for Administration.
- James Brazelton, the man who ran the Stanislaus County district attorney's office for nine years and led the prosecution team that convicted double-murderer Scott Peterson, died Monday afternoon at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto. He was 66.
- "He was an amazing advocate," said Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge Ricardo Córdova, a former public defender who used to spar with Brazelton. "He was really passionate in what he believed.".
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