ROANOKE, Va. — Samuel Alexander Garrison III, who defended President Richard Nixon in impeachment hearings in 1974 and later became a gay activist, has died. He was 65. Garrison died Sunday after a long battle with leukemia, said Mark Harris, his partner of 17 years.
Garrison was the deputy minority counsel for the House Judiciary Committee and later also was the chief Republican counsel.
“Sam realized what a high honor it was,” Harris said. “He really enjoyed doing that. He said it was fun hearing his name on TV and seeing his name in magazines.”
Following Watergate, Garrison returned to Roanoke to practice law. He was disbarred and served four months in prison for embezzling $46,000 from a bankruptcy account in 1980. The Virginia Supreme Court reinstated his law license in 1993.
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