Robert Corbin Nov 17, 1928-Sept 9, 2025
Robert Keith Corbin, more familiarly known as Bob Corbin to both friends and the public, a giant in Arizona’s legal and political history, died in his sleep at his home in Phoenix on September 9, 2025. He reportedly suffered a heart attack at the age of 96. I have written this belated remembrance because I am still running into people who knew Bob Corbin but didn’t know he had died. He kept a vacation home in the tall pines off Walker Road on the outskirts of Prescott. He had many friends in the Prescott area.
As a result of the media focus on the assassination of Charlie Kirk the next day, there was relatively little publicity about the passing of the legendary Maricopa County Attorney (1965-69). In 1972 he was elected to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors where he served until his election as Arizona’s 21st Attorney General (1979-1991), the longest serving Attorney General in Arizona history. After leaving elective office he served two terms as Chairman of the National Rifle Association (1992 & 1993).
It’s hard to exaggerate Bob Corbin’s stature in Arizona’s legal and political history. He came to Arizona in the late 1950’s, just out of law school in Indiana where he was born and raised. He was admitted to the Arizona Bar in 1958 and joined the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office shortly afterward as a staff prosecutor. By 1965 he was running the office as the elected County Attorney.
I had the good fortune of meeting Bob Corbin through my own political work. We had friends in common and I would see him from time to time at political events. By the time we got acquainted, shortly after his marriage to his second wife, former state senator Lori Klein, he was in his mid- 70’s and happily retired. Our backgrounds were very different. Corbin was a legendary prosecutor who had spent years at the top levels of Arizona politics. I was a former defense attorney from Washington D.C., newly retired to Arizona and a political neophyte. But Bob was always cordial and open to me–a classy guy in every way. Our conversations over the years were full of good natured banter and had a light touch. I think he enjoyed them almost as much as I did.
Photo: Frosty Taylor’s birthday party in Wickenburg, October 20, 2022
Corbin relished his reputation as a tough prosecutor. He played key roles in high profile prosecutions including the 1987 indictment of former Yavapai County Congressman Sam Steiger for attempting to influence a member of the Parole Board. Corbin won a conviction at trial but lost the case on appeal. He also indicted a sitting Governor, Ev Mecham, in 1988 for alleged campaign finance violations. The case was eventually dismissed following Mecham’s impeachment and removal from office.
Politically, Corbin was a strong conservative, pro law enforcement and tough on crime. As a prosecutor he was fair but dogged in his pursuit of the truth. A good example of this was his investigation of the Don Bolles killing. Bolles was an Arizona Republic reporter who was murdered in a 1976 car bombing in connection with his investigation into organized crime. Several suspects were prosecuted. One was convicted but the convictions of two others were thrown out on appeal. Corbin believed there was much more to the case. As Attorney General, he reopened the investigation in 1989 and obtained indictments that eventually led to an additional conviction.
Photo: Ernesto Miranda
Corbin served in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office during the prosecution of Ernesto Miranda who in 1963 had confessed to a vicious kidnapping and rape in Phoenix. Miranda was found guilty at trial and sentenced to a lengthy prison term. On appeal Miranda’s lawyers argued that the confession was involuntary and should not have been admitted at trial. The case made its way to the US Supreme Court in Miranda v Arizona, 384 US 436(1966). The decision overturned Miranda’s conviction and changed forever the rules the police must follow when questioning suspects in custody.
In a 5 to 4 decision written by Chief Justice Warren, the Court held that before a suspect in custody can be questioned, they must be advised of their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and their Sixth Amendment right to have counsel present during questioning. Statements taken without these warnings are generally inadmissible at trial.
At the time, the Miranda decision was denounced as an outlandish excess of the Warren Court that would tie the hands of the police and undermine public safety. Sixty years later, Miranda warnings are standard police practice and foundational to American criminal procedure. [On appeal the government was represented by Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall, of NAACP fame, who argued that the government didn’t have the resources to provide attorney’s for criminal defendants. LBJ later appointed him to the Supreme Court].
Photo: Bob Corbin and friends, May 5, 2025 luncheon in Phoenix
As a defense attorney, I was fascinated by Bob’s recounting of the Miranda case. He was not happy with the way the case turned out. He liked to tell the story that before leaving office as Maricopa County Attorney, he retried Miranda without the benefit of a confession and obtained convictions for rape and kidnapping. Miranda was again sentenced to prison. With time served by1972 he was out on parole. A pool hall fight in south Phoenix led to his stabbing death in 1976. As Bob liked to tell the story, there were witnesses to the stabbing. But they all knew their Miranda rights and wouldn’t talk. [In fact a suspect was identified but fled to Mexico. Miranda’s murder remains unsolved].
Corbin stayed active in retirement and continued to advise top officials on criminal justice issues. He was ‘old school’ and thought people who commit crimes should be punished and kept in jail as long as possible. When I served in the legislature I wanted to make changes. I was concerned about an overly harsh criminal justice system that has given Arizona one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. On criminal justice policy, Bob and I didn’t always see eye to eye. But on a personal level we got along famously. As a lawyer in public service, Bob Corbin was a man of great ability and personal integrity. I am honored to share this remembrance of a giant in Arizona’s legal history.
4 thoughts on “Bob Corbin: Arizona Legal Giant Passes At 96 – David Stringer, Publisher”
I’m old enough to remember when Corbin went after Sam Steiger who never forgave him. Both colorful personalities. As a prosecutor Corbin definitely hit the long ball.
This remembrance from Stringer, a defense attorney, is gracious and hits the right balance.
I don’t remember Bob, but my dad talked about him all of the time when I was 7 years old.
Didn’t know Bob Corbin has passed. As the saying goes, there were giants in those days.
This is good political history. I’d like to see more of it.
Thanks, David, for this history of a great man that I was only vaguely aware of. I’m sure I would agree more with Bob Corbin, than with you on Criminal justice issues, but I’m also sure that any discussions on those issues would be as cordial as those you had with Bob.
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