Obits in Brief: Kenneth Kahn

Kenneth Kahn, who died on 27 May aged 66 after a fall in the mountains above the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, was a criminal defence lawyer with a sideline as a comedian, known for his work with high-profile clients such as Larry Flynt.

Kahn may best be known for defending the convicted spy Andrew Daulton Lee, played by Sean Penn in the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman; he also represented the musician Ike Turner on a probation violation. He defended Flynt when the Hustler magazine publisher was charged with desecrating the American flag, which he had worn as a nappy in a courtroom.

Kahn's comedy career began after a brush with death in 1987 when he was stabbed in the chest with an ice pick in a Torrance courtroom by a man he had defended for assaulting a police officer.