Charles E. Wiggins, former judge and congressman, dies at Las Vegas home

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 12:03 p.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Charles E. Wiggins, a former federal judge and congressman who was a staunch defender of President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, has died from complications of diabetes and heart problems. He was 72.

Wiggins, a federal appeals court judge, died Thursday at his Las Vegas home watching a presidential debate, court officials said. He was the senior judge of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to which he was appointed in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan.

In one of his key rulings, Wiggins in 1994 upheld the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military in the case of Holmes vs. California National Guard.

Services were to have been held earlier today at Palm Mortuary on West Cheyenne Avenue.

"We'll miss his dedication and hard work, but most of all we will miss his friendship, his political insights and his wise counsel," said Proctor Hug Jr., chief judge of the 9th Circuit.

Wiggins, who was elected to Congress from Orange County, Calif., in 1966 and served until 1979, was a loyal supporter of President Nixon and defended him during the House Judiciary Committee's Watergate impeachment inquiry.

Wiggins just last month defended Nixon during a seminar that reflected on the early 1970s scandal. He dismissed as speculation the idea that Nixon may have ordered the Watergate burglary and said Nixon "was not treated fairly."

Wiggins, who was born in El Monte, Calif., in 1927, was a Korean War Army veteran.

He graduated from the University of Southern California law school with high honors and entered private practice in El Monte in 1957. During the late 1950s, Wiggins served as planning commissioner in El Monte and 1960-66 served on its city council.

While in Congress, he served on the Commission on the Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System. As a member of the appeals court, he served on the national committees of the Judicial Conference and others.

He was a member of the Bicentennial Commission on the United States Constitution.

In 1996, he took senior status -- a form of semi-retirement -- on the appeals court but continued to hear cases until his death.

He is survived by his wife, Betty J. Wiggins of Las Vegas; five children, Steven Wiggins if Snowmass, Colo., Scott Wiggins of Mukilteo, Wash., Gary Burnett of Las Vegas, Darla Colton of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Craig Burnett of Santa Rosa, Calif.; a sister, Lyn Burdick of Las Vegas; and 10 grandchildren.

Wiggins was preceded in death by his first wife, Yvonne Wiggins.

The family said donations can be made in Wiggins' memory to the Diabetes Association, 2785 E. Desert Inn Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109.