Coroner: Law Prof's Death Was a Suicide

The death of Chapman University law professor -- and Newport Beach resident -- Katherine D. Darmer was ruled a suicide, the Orange County coroner's office reported Wednesday.

Darmer, 47, was pronounced dead at 12:24 p.m. Friday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, after plunging from a parking structure at 19712 MacArthur Blvd., according to the coroner.

Darmer joined Chapman's full-time faculty in 2000, specializing in criminal law procedure, according to her profile page on the school's website. She taught courses on criminal procedure, advanced criminal procedure and evidence.

She was also a founding board member and chair of the legal team for the Orange County Equality Coalition.

Darmer spoke at an August 2010 OC Pride rally held days after a federal judge overturned a California law banning same-sex marriage. She also participated in a Chapman debate with John Yoo, a Bush administration lawyer whose memos justified waterboarding.

Before joining Chapman, she worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in New York City. In 1992, while working at Davis Polk and Wardwell, Darmer helped successfully defend Delta Air Lines in a $2.5-billion lawsuit brought by Pan Am for its collapse, the Orange County Register reported.

Chapman University described her as a "wife and mother" but did not release details about her survivors. On Saturday, a public memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 2200 San Joaquin Hills Road in Newport Beach.