Edward J. Davila
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Edward John Davila (born June 21, 1952) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del ...
. He was previously a state court judge on the
Santa Clara County Superior Court The Superior Court of California for and in the County of Santa Clara is the state trial court in and for Santa Clara County, California. The Santa Clara Superior Court serves the public by providing equal justice for all in a fair, accessible, ...
from 2001 to 2011.


Early life and education

Davila was born in Palo Alto, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts from San Diego State University in 1976. He then attended the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and earned his
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
in 1979.


Legal career

From 1981 to 1988, he served as a deputy public defender in the Santa Clara County Public Defender's Office and later in private practice at the law firm of Davila & Polverino from 1988 to 2001.


Judicial career


State judicial service

On August 8, 2001, Governor
Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis Jr. (born December 26, 1942) is an American attorney and former politician who served as the 37th governor of California from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, only a few months into his second term, Davis was recalled and remov ...
appointed Davila to serve as a judge on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County.New judges named
''
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...
'' (August 8, 2001).
Davila replaced Judge Donald Clark. While a superior court judge, Davila presided over the high-profile case of a Las Vegas couple, Anna Ayala and Jaime Placencia, who planted a severed human finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. On January 18, 2006, Davila sentenced Ayala to 9 years in prison and Placencia to 12 years and 4 months in prison.


Federal judicial service

During the
111th Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...
, Senator
Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...
recommended Davila to fill the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del ...
vacancy created by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who assumed senior status.Bob Egelko
Obama nominates Edward Davila for federal bench
'' San Francisco Chronicle'' (May 21, 2010).
Presidential Nomination no
PN1813-111
''Edward J. Davila, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, vice Marilyn Hall Patel, retired,'' May 20, 2010 (111th Congress)
On May 20, 2010, President Barack Obama formally nominated Davila to the Northern District of California. The Senate Judiciary Committee recommended his confirmation on December 1, 2010, but the Senate decided to recess without confirming him. Obama renominated Davila on January 5, 2011.Presidential Nomination no
PN21-112
, ''Edward J. Davila, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California, vice Marilyn Hall Patel, retired,'' January 05, 2011 (112th Congress)
That nomination was approved by the Judiciary Committee on February 3, and he was confirmed by the Senate on February 14, 2011 by a 93–0 vote. He received his commission on March 3, 2011. Davila presided over the criminal trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and COO
Sunny Balwani Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani (born ) is an American convicted fraudster, businessman and former President (corporate title), president and chief operating officer of Theranos, which was a privately held health technology company founded by his then-gir ...
. Holmes was found guilty on four counts on
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
in January 2022 and sentenced to 11.25 years (135 months) in prison on November 18, 2022, while Balwani was convicted of 12 counts of fraud in July 2022 and sentenced to nearly 13 years (155 months) in prison on December 7, 2022.


Personal life

Davila is married to Mary Greenwood, who formerly served as Santa Clara County
Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...
and is presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal for the Sixth District. They reside in Menlo Park, California.


See also

* List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davila, Edward J. 1952 births Living people 21st-century American judges California state court judges Hispanic and Latino American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California People from Menlo Park, California People from Palo Alto, California Public defenders San Diego State University alumni Superior court judges in the United States United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni