U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of California Larry A. Burns will handle the case against Jared Lee Loughner, the alleged gunman behind the mass shooting on Saturday, according to documents filed with the court on Wednesday.
All federal judges in Arizona have been conflicted out because U.S. District Judge John M. Roll was one of the six victims of the shooting.
“Based upon the circumstances occurring on January 8, 2011 in Tucson and the initiation of proceedings in conjunction with them, the impartiality of the District and Magistrate Judges in the District of Arizona might reasonably be questioned,” wrote U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver, who was just named as a replacement for Roll.
Burns was nominated by former President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2003. He’s a graduate of the University of San Diego School of Law who served as a deputy district attorney as well as an assistant U.S. attorney.
