S. James Otero
James Otero was a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He joined the court in 2003 after being nominated by President George W. Bush (R). He retired from full-time service, assuming senior status, on December 30, 2018, and officially ended his service on April 10, 2020.[1]
Education
A native Californian, Otero graduated from California State University with his B.A. in 1973 and graduated from Stanford Law School with his J.D. in 1976.
Professional career
- 2003-2020: Judge, Central District of California
- 2018-2020: Senior judge
- 2003-2018: Judge
- 1990-2003: Judge, Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California
- 1988-1990: Judge, Los Angeles Municipal Court, California
- 1987-1988: Regional counsel, Southern Pacific Transportation
- 1976-1987: Law clerk and attorney, Los Angeles Office of the City Attorney, California[1]
Judicial career
Central District of California
Otero was nominated by President George W. Bush (R) on January 7, 2003, to a seat vacated by Richard Paez as Paez was nominated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.[1] Otero was confirmed by the Senate on February 10, 2003, on an unopposed 94-0-6 vote, and received commission on February 12, 2003.[2] He retired from full-time service, assuming senior status, on December 30, 2018, and officially ended his service on April 10, 2020.
Noteworthy cases
Judge refuses to return copies of documents seized in raid (2014)
In April 2014, Judge Otero denied a land developer’s request to return items that were seized from him during the course of a federal raid of his properties. Jeff Burum, the developer, was accused of bribing county officials in an effort to obtain a $102 million settlement for his real estate investor group. Judge Otero denied Burum’s request because while the original items seized were returned to him, Burum still sought the return of copies of documents that were seized. As a criminal investigation was still underway, Judge Otero wrote that Burum’s "interest in the copies of the seized material [did] not outweigh the government’s interest."
Articles:
See also
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Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Richard Paez |
Central District of California 2003–2018 |
Succeeded by: Fernando Aenlle-Rocha
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| 2001 |
Armijo • Bates • Beistline • Blackburn • Bowdre • Bunning • Bury • Caldwell • Camp • Cassell • Cebull • Clement • Clifton • Crane • Eagan • Engelhardt • Friot • Gibbons • Granade • Gregory • Gritzner • Haddon • Hartz • Heaton • Hicks • Howard • Johnson • Jorgenson • Krieger • Land • Leon • Mahan • Martinez • Martone • McConnell • Melloy • Mills • O'Brien • Parker • Payne • Prost • Reeves • Riley • Robinson • Rogers • Royal • Shedd • B. Smith • L. Smith • Walton • Wooten • Zainey | ||
| 2002 |
Africk • Anderson • Autrey • Baylson • Cercone • Chesler • Clark • Collyer • Conner • Conti • Corrigan • Davis • Davis • Dorr • England • Ericksen • Fuller • Gardner • Godbey • Griesbach • Hanen • Hovland • Hudson • Jones • Jordan • Kinkeade • Klausner • Kugler • Leighton • Linares • Moses • Marra • Martinez • Martini • Mays • McVerry • Phillips • Raggi • Reade • Rose • Rufe • Savage • Schwab • Smith • St. Eve • Walter • White • Wolfson | ||
| 2003 |
Adams • Altonaga • Bea • Benitez • Bennett • Boyle • Brack • Breen • Browning • Burns • Bybee • Callahan • Campbell • Cardone • Carney • Castel • Chertoff • Cohn • Colloton • Conrad • Coogler • Cook • Cooke • Crone • Der-Yeghiayan • Drell • Duffey • Duncan • Erickson • Feuerstein • Figa • Filip • Fischer • Fisher • Flanagan • Floyd • Frost • Gibson • Greer • Gruender • Guirola • Hall • Hardiman • Hayes • Herrera • Hicks • Holmes • Holwell • Hopkins • Houston • Irizarry • Jones • Junell • Karas • Kravitz • Martinez • McKnight • Minaldi • Montalvo • Mosman • Otero • Pickering • Prado • Pratter • Proctor • Quarles • Robart • Roberts • Robinson • Rodgers • Rodriguez • Sabraw • Sanchez • Saylor • Selna • Sharpe • Simon • Springmann • Stanceu • Steele • Stengel • Suko • Sutton • Sykes • Titus • Townes • Tymkovich • Van Antwerpen • Varlan • Wake • Wesley • White • Woodcock • Yeakel | ||
| 2004 |
Alvarez • Benton • Boyko • Covington • Diamond • Harwell • Kelley • Schiavelli • Schneider • Starrett • Watson | ||
| 2005 |
Alito • Barrett • Batten • Bianco • Brown • Burgess • Conrad • Cox • Crotty • Delgado-Colon • Dever • DuBose • Griffin • Griffith • Johnston • Kendall • Larson • Ludington • Mattice • McKeague • Neilson • Owen • Pryor • Roberts • Sandoval • Schiltz • Seabright • Smoak • Van Tatenhove • Vitaliano • Watkins • Zouhary | ||
| 2006 |
Besosa • Bumb • Chagares • Cogan • Gelpi • Golden • Gordon • Gorsuch • Guilford • Hillman • Holmes • Ikuta • D. Jordan • K. Jordan • Kavanaugh • Miller • Moore • Shepherd • Sheridan • Smith • Whitney • Wigenton | ||
| 2007 |
Anderson • Aycock • Bailey • Bryant • Davis • DeGiusti • Dow • Elrod • Fairbank • Fischer • Frizzell • Gutierrez • Hall • Hardiman • Haynes • Howard • Jarvey • Jones • Jonker • Kapala • Kays • Laplante • Limbaugh • Lioi • Livingston • Maloney • Mauskopf • Mendez • Miller • Neff • O'Connor • O'Grady • O'Neill • Osteen • Ozerden • Reidinger • Sammartino • Schroeder • Settle • Smith • Snow • Southwick • Suddaby • Sullivan • Thapar • Tinder • Van Bokkelen • Wood • Wright • Wu | ||
| 2008 |
Agee • Anello • Arguello • Brimmer • Gardephe • Goldberg • Jones • Kethledge • Lawrence • Matsumoto • Melgren • Murphy • Scriven • Seibel • Slomsky • Trenga • Waddoups • White | ||
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State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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