Boston Civil Rights Lawyer Homans Dies at 75

William P. Homans Jr. '41, the well-known Boston civil rights attorney who last year defended the so-called Widener Library "slasher," died of various ailments Feb. 7 at a nursing home in Phoenix. He was 75.

Homans became famous for defending hapless clients who sometimes admitted to the outrageous charges against them.

He lost his share of cases, but the persistence that made him famous in Massachusetts law circles won him many as well.

In fact, it is widely known among Massachusetts criminal lawyers that Homans' arguments led the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to ban the death penalty in 1975.

The Harvard community may remember Homans for defending Stephen L. Womack, who admitted to mutilating millions of dollars worth of rare books in Widener Library and in Northeastern University's Library.

Womack, a former Widener employee who was nicknamed the "slasher," was convicted last February in Middlesex Superior Court on two of seven charges.

"[Homans] was a great lawyer and a real gentleman," said Anthony Gemma, the former assistant district attorney who prosecuted Womack last year.

In September 1995, Homans handled the case of Enrica Garzilli, a former lecturer on Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard.

Garzilli claimed she was unfairly passed over for a promotion and sued three professors and the graduate school dean for unspecified damages.

"Bill represented the best the legal profession had to offer," said University attorney Allan A. Ryan Jr., who opposed Homans in the case.

"He was a zealous advocate of his clients' interests and always a gentleman and a man of great integrity," Ryan said.

After graduating from the College in 1941, Homans joined the U.S. Navy to fight in World War II. After the war, he returned to Harvard for a law degree.

Friends described Homans as an imposing figure who spoke in a rich baritone, Gemma said. A compassionate man, he sometimes was in tears after losing a case.

Members of the Supreme Judicial Court Historical Society established an endowment in his name last November to promote debate on public issues. It was the first time such an endowment had been created, according to Homans' obituary in the New York Times.

Homans was married and divorced twice. He is survived by two sons, two daughters, two stepchildren, a sister, two brothers and five grandchildren.