# Todd E. Edelman

Todd Eric Edelman (born January 16, 1968) is an American lawyer who has served as an associate judge for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 2010. He is a former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

## Early life and education

Edelman was born in 1968, in St. Louis, Missouri. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1990 from Yale University. He received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1994 from the New York University School of Law.

## Career

Edelman began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge William B. Bryant of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, from 1994 to 1995. From 1995 to 1997, he was an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. He worked for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia from 1997 to 2005, during which time he served as a staff attorney for the Trial Division from 1997 to 2001, a supervising attorney for the Trial Division from 2001 to 2002, the chief of the Serious Felony Section from 2002 to 2004, and the training director from 2004 to 2005. From 2005 to 2008, he was of counsel at the law firm Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C. in Washington, D.C. From 2008 to 2010, he was a visiting associate professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He has served as an associate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 2010.

### Notable cases

In May 2020, Edelman presided over the trial of Christian Wingfield on charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. Wingfield's lawyer petitioned the court for his release from pre-trial custody because of the coronavirus pandemic then affecting jails. Edelman granted the request and released Wingfield with an ankle monitor instead of keeping him in jail until the trial.
Shortly after his release, Wingfield was present at a shooting at a Fourth of July cookout during which an 11-year-old boy was killed by a stray bullet. Wingfield was part of a group the police initially arrested and charged with murder, but later analysis indicated that he had not fired a gun that night. Wingfield pled guilty to a charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison.

### Expired nomination to the U.S. district court

On April 28, 2016, President Barack Obama nominated Edelman to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, to the seat vacated by Judge Richard W. Roberts, who assumed senior status on March 16, 2016. His nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress.

### Renomination to U.S. district court under Biden

On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Edelman to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. On September 27, 2022, his nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Edelman to the seat vacated by Judge Florence Y. Pan, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On November 15, 2022, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Republicans attacked Edelman for his handling of the Christian Wingfield case, saying the release of Wingfield during the coronavirus pandemic led to the murder of an 11-year old. On January 3, 2023, Edelman's nomination was once again returned to the president.