John Roll
Attorney Judy Clarke, a former federal public defender who in the past had represented suspects in several high-profile murder and terrorism cases, was appointed to represent Loughner in federal court. The entire federal judiciary of Arizona recused themselves from hearing the case because of their ties to fellow judge John Roll, who was killed. Federal prosecutors opposed motions to move the case outside of Arizona because of pre-trial publicity. At the direction of Ninth Circuit Appeals court Chief Judge Kozinski, the federal case was assigned to Larry Alan Burns, a San Diego-based judge from the Southern District of California.