André Birotte Jr. (born August 15, 1966) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Central District of California The United States District Court for the Central District of California (in case citations, C.D. Cal.; commonly referred to as the CDCA or CACD) is a Federal trial court that serves over 19 million people in Southern and Central California, ...

and previously served as United States Attorney for the Central District of California. On July 22, 2014, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

unanimously confirmed Birotte to serve as a district judge in Los Angeles after being nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Early life and education

Birotte was born in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, in 1966 to Haitian immigrants. Birotte graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in psychology and received his Juris Doctor from

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law (formerly Pepperdine University School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juris D ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Birotte was a deputy public defender in Los Angeles. In 1995, he became an Assistant United States Attorney. Four years later, he joined

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP is a global white shoe law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm employs approximately 800 attorneys throughout 23 offices around the world. History The firm was established in 1986 by ...

where he represented individuals charged with

white collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

Birotte was appointed to the United States Attorney's office by President

and confirmed by the Senate in February 2010. He was sworn in on March 4, 2010. Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. administered the oath. Birotte was the first African-American United States Attorney for the Central District. He supervised an office of 275 prosecutors.

Major cases

Birotte was the United States Attorney investigating charges against former cyclist

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

for defrauding of the government, drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy. He dismissed the case without comment on February 3, 2012. Armstrong reacted to the decision by stating "I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is closing its investigation. It is the right decision and I commend them for reaching it." The federal investigation had been ongoing for two years prior to its dismissal by Birotte. On February 5, 2013, Birotte stated that Armstrong's subsequent admission that he took drugs was no reason to reopen the original investigation.

Federal judicial service

On April 3, 2014, President Obama nominated Birotte to serve as a

of the

, to the seat vacated by

Gary Allen Feess Gary Allen Feess (born March 13, 1948) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Education and career Feess was born in Alliance, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts deg ...

, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on March 13, 2014. He received a hearing before the

United States Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, ...

on May 20, 2014. On June 19, 2014, his nomination was reported out of committee by a

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vo ...

. On July 16, 2014, Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

filed a motion to invoke

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on Birotte nomination. The Senate invoked cloture on July 22, 2014 by a 56–43 vote. Later that same day the Senate voted 100–0 to confirm Birotte. He received his federal judicial commission on August 8, 2014. He was sworn in the same day.

Other activities

Birotte served as a judge pro tem for the

Los Angeles Superior Court The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Los Angeles County, which includes the city of Los Angeles. It is the largest single unified trial court in the United States. The ...

. He is a member of the

Los Angeles County Bar Association The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) is a voluntary bar association with more than 21,000 members throughout Los Angeles County, California, and the world. Founded in 1878, LACBA's goal has been to meet the professional needs of lawye ...

's Judicial Appointments Committee and Criminal Justice Executive Committee. He has taught legal writing and advocacy at the

University of Southern California Law School The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

. Earlier in his career, he served as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles and as the inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Department. He served on the board of directors of the Langston Bar Association from 1992 to 2003.

Personal

Birotte has a wife and three children.

References

External links

USC Law School speech in November 2011Spring 2012 Conference of Association of Inspectors General
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birotte, Andre 1966 births African-American judges African-American lawyers American people of Haitian descent Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the United States District Court for the Central District of California Lawyers who have represented the United States government Living people Los Angeles Police Department Pepperdine University School of Law alumni Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey Public defenders Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences alumni United States Attorneys for the Central District of California United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama 21st-century American judges