by operation of law to the United States District Court for the Central District of California on September 18, 1966, to a new seat authorized by 80 Stat. 75. He assumed senior status on September 30, 1968. His service terminated on December 8, 1979, due to his death. Notable cases Trial of an army officer charged with stealing $106,000 in Japanese gold missing since the surrender of Formosa (Taiwan) to U.S. forces at the end of World War II. Jailing of 10 people for refusal to answer questions in a grand jury proceeding about Los Angeles Communist leaders and organizations. Freeing of war crimes suspect Andrija Artukovic, former interior minister in Croatia, when Hall ruled that no extradition treaty existed between the United States and Yugoslavia, which had sought Artukovic for trial. Aviation law Hall was considered the foremost authority of aviation law among the nation's 500 federal judges. Personal Hall was married five times. He and his first wife were divorced in 1929, and Hall sued journalist Fred H. Girnau for libel when Girnau printed a two-column article asserting that testimony at the divorce proceedings showed that Hall "used the pretty face of his wife for a punching bag." Hall's attorney declared the statement untrue and Mrs. Hall said the report was false and malicious. The longest marriage was to Gertrude May Engel, beginning in 1930. They had two daughters, Mary and Suzanne, and were divorced in 1956 after court battles that lasted several years. She died in 1964. His fourth wife was Kathryn Kyle Black, whom he married in Kansas City, Kansas, in November 1956. She died in 1970. Next he married Mari Bahn, who died in February 1973. Memberships and death Hall, who had been a Mason and an Elk, died on December 8, 1979. Note References Further reading Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials: 1850—1938, Compiled under Direction of Municipal Reference Library City Hall, Los Angeles March 1938 (Reprinted 1966) 1894 births 1979 deaths Los Angeles City Council members United States Attorneys for the Southern District of California California state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California United States district court judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt 20th-century American judges People from Armour, South Dakota USC Gould School of Law alumni People from Tecumseh,