Former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank X. Gordon Jr., who presided over the 1988 impeachment trial that resulted in the removal of Gov. Evan Mecham, has died.
The state high court said in an announcement Thursday that Gordon died Monday, three days before his 91st birthday. Cause of death was not released.
Gordon was a Mohave County Superior Court judge when Gov. Raul Castro appointed him as a justice in 1975, the first Arizona appellate judge appointed under a new merit selection process approved by the state's voters.
Mecham's televised impeachment trial ended with the Republican's removal when the state Senate approved articles accusing of misuse of public money and obstruction of justice. Gordon stepped down from the court in 1992.
