David Jacobs, public defender

David P. Jacobs, 71, of Moorestown, who retired in 2004 as a public defender in Burlington County, died of a heart attack on Friday, Oct. 21, at home.

In 2008, the New Jersey Office of Public Defender recognized, with a certificate it presented to him, his work against the state's death penalty.

He defended several people charged with murder.

One was Eddie Sykes, 24, of Hammonton, found guilty in 1994 of the 1992 murder of Lisa A. Maimone, a Winslow bartender who was found in a gully, battered beyond recognition.

Victor Friedman, a Superior Court judge from 1978 to 2000, who sentenced Sykes to a life term, said he was "greatly saddened by the news of David Jacobs' death.

"During my 22 years on the bench, half of those years were spent on criminal cases. As public defender, David Jacobs appeared in my courtroom often on major cases as well as routine matters.

"David was an exceptional lawyer.

"He had a superior intellect, a complete grasp of criminal law, and a very strong work ethic, as well as the ability to set forth his ideas powerfully in argument to the court and to juries.

"He was ethical and reliable in every sense.

"David Jacobs will no doubt be long remembered for advancing the cause of justice and the reputation of the legal profession."

Born in New York City, Mr. Jacobs earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Rutgers University in 1966 and graduated in 1969 from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, daughter Elissa said.

He joined the Office of the Public Defender in Mount Holly in the early 1970s, and after his retirement worked part-time for the state's pretrial intervention program.

Mr. Jacobs was a founder in 1977 of Congregation Beth Tikvah, a Conservative synagogue in Marlton.

He was a vice president of the congregation in the early 1980s, and was a member of its board of trustees and a chair of its ritual committee.

Mr. Jacobs was a proponent of home observances as well as synagogue worship during Jewish holy days.

He wrote a Haggadah, a collection of prayers, that the Jewish Community Relations Council in Cherry Hill used for an interfaith seder in the 1990s.

Mr. Jacobs was a vice president of the council in the 1990s.

For the last nine years, Mr. Jacobs went once a week to the Princeton office of Learning Ally, an agency, where he recorded books on the law and on the Civil War for the blind, visually impaired, and dyslexic.

Besides his daughter, Mr. Jacobs is survived by his wife, Sylvia; son Daniel; a sister; and four grandchildren.

A visitation was set from 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Platt Memorial Chapels, 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, before a noon funeral there.

Donations may be sent to Congregation Beth Tikvah, 115 Evesboro-Medford Rd., Marlton, N.J. 8053.

Condolences may be offered to the family at plattmemorial.com.