Patricia Head Minaldi

Patricia Head Minaldi

Judge on the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
Incumbent
Assumed office May 9, 2003
Nominated by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	James T. Trimble Jr.
Personal details
Born	1959 (age 56–57) Somerville, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Wesleyan University Tulane University Law School

Patricia Head Minaldi (born 1959) is a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. She joined the court in 2003 after being nominated by President George W. Bush.

Early life and education

Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, Minaldi graduated from Wesleyan University with her Bachelor's degree in 1980 and later from Tulane University School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1983.

Legal career

Following law school graduation, Minaldi was an Assistant district attorney of New Orleans from 1983 to 1986. She was an Assistant district attorney of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana from 1986 to 1996. She was a judge on the 14th Judicial District Court, Louisiana from 1996 to 2003.

Federal Judicial Career

Minaldi was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. by President George W. Bush on January 15, 2003 to a seat vacated by Judge James Trimble as Trimble reached senior status. Minaldi was confirmed by the Senate on May 6, 2003 on a Senate vote and received her commission on May 9, 2003.

Notable cases

In the summer of 2009, Minaldi dismissed the court case against a man who mailed hoax anthrax and bomb threats in the wake of 9/11.

In 2004, a federal jury convicted Stephen Michael Long on charges of threatening to use weapons of mass destruction, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in April 2009 overturned his conviction and 30-year prison sentence.

Prosecutors pushed to bring the case back to trial in 2009, but those plans could be frustrated by the dismissal from Judge Minaldi. She has not yet ruled whether prosecutors will be allowed to begin the criminal process anew against Long or whether he will be allowed to go free.^[1]

Arrest

Minaldi was arrested Thursday, January 23, 2014 for having an open alcoholic beverage inside her vehicle.^[2] On February 14, 2014, Minaldi was charged with a DWI following a police investigation.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Sources

Patricia Head Minaldi at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

References

Legal offices
Preceded by James Travis Trimble, Jr.	Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana 2003–present	Incumbent

Current active district judges of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

E. Louisiana	Engelhardt Feldman Vance Fallon Barbier Zainey Africk Brown Triche-Milazzo Morgan 2 seats vacant

M. Louisiana	Jackson Dick deGravelles

W. Louisiana	Drell Doherty Minaldi Hicks Foote 2 seats vacant

N. Mississippi	Aycock Mills Brown

S. Mississippi	Guirola Wingate Starrett Jordan Ozerden Reeves

E. Texas	Clark Crone Gilstrap Mazzant Schroeder 3 seats vacant

N. Texas	Lynn Fitzwater McBryde Lindsay Godbey Kinkeade Boyle O'Connor 4 seats vacant

S. Texas	Rosenthal Hinojosa Hughes Lake Harmon Gilmore Ellison Crane Hanen Alvarez Miller Saldaña Ramos Marmolejo Bennett Hanks Olvera 2 seats vacant

W. Texas	Garcia Sparks Biery Martinez Ludlum Cardone Yeakel Montalvo Rodriguez Guaderrama Pitman 2 seats vacant

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