Obituaries
Dec. 8, 2025
Farewell to an appellate giant who never sought the spotlight
Jonathan Demson, a quietly brilliant and fiercely dedicated solo appellate attorney who handled over 400 cases, argued four times in the California Supreme Court, and secured more than 150 reversals for defendants wrongly denied resentencing consideration, left an outsized impact on California criminal law despite never seeking recognition or publicity before his untimely death.
Jennifer Hansen
Staff Attorney
CAP-LA
Email: jennifer@lacap.com
Jennifer Hansen is a staff attorney at the CAP-LA and the current treasurer of the California Lawyers Association's Committee on Appellate Courts.
This past month the California appellate community lost an attorney who handled more than 400 cases in the Courts of Appeal and argued four times in the California Supreme Court, establishing precedents impacting criminal defendants across the state. At the time of his death, he was the attorney of record in more than 50 pending appellate cases in the Second District.
His name was Jonathan Demson, and you probably never heard of him. He was not a certifi...
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