Retired federal District Judge Sherman Finesilver, who died Thursday at age 79, remained circumspect in a career characterized by highly public cases where defendants ranged from a former president’s son to characters bickering over the world’s largest pearl.
“Do not confuse notoriety and fame with greatness,” he once told a friend.
Born and schooled in Colorado, Finesilver began his judicial career as a Denver municipal judge in 1955. President Nixon nominated him to the federal bench in 1971. Finesilver became chief judge in 1982.
In perhaps his most celebrated – and certainly most widely documented – case, he presided over the special grand jury investigating environmental violations at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Boulder.
The grand jury wanted to indict U.S. Department of Energy and Rockwell International Corp. officials, but prosecutors declined. When the case was settled with a plea bargain and an $85 million fine against Rockwell, some of the jurors united as a runaway jury.
They immediately wrote a report describing the defendants’ “ongoing criminal enterprise.” Finesilver put the jurors under a gag order and sealed the report, eventually releasing what he termed a “heavily edited” version, further fueling a litigious fire that still burns.
That case dominated a 39-year judicial career full of high-profile cases. Finesilver handled the dispute that resulted in a $49.5 million settlement in the government’s case against Neil Bush and other directors of the failed Silverado Banking, Savings & Loan.
“He was known far and wide for his ability to achieve settlements in the most contentious of cases,” said federal District Judge Rich ard P. Matsch.
“I don’t know how he did it, but he had an unusual ability to get people to see common ground.”
In another case, Finesilver ordered psychiatric treatment along with a prison sentence and fine for an Arvada legal secretary caught carrying a loaded pistol as she stalked former President Bush.
He also resolved a lengthy federal court battle over the ownership of the 14-pound “Pearl of Allah,” a gem reputedly grown under order from philosopher Lao-Tzu and connected to a record-setting penalty in a wrongful-death lawsuit.
“It was like ‘Guys and Dolls’ in his courtroom, with a lot of people dressed like hoodlums,” said his wife, Annette Finesilver.
Finesilver retired from the bench in 1994, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and refine his fly-fishing technique. He particularly enjoyed the Blue River area, where a property-owning friend named a pond “Lake Sherman” in his honor.
Though his health faltered in later years, Finesilver enjoyed accompanying son Steven Finesilver, who coaches George Washington High School’s football team. The players affectionately nicknamed the judge “Big Coach.”
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Congregation Emanuel, 51 Grape St.
Besides his wife and son Steven, survivors include daughter Susan Finesilver of Boulder; son Jay Finesilver of Denver; and 11 grandchildren.
Staff writer Claire Martin can be reached at 303-954-1477 or cmartin@denverpost.com
