Hon. David Carter *pending confirmation

Judge Carter was nominated on June 25, 1998. He received his commission on October 22, 1998.
Prior to serving on the Federal bench, Judge Carter began his legal career as an Assistant District
Attorney with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in 1972, where he became the senior
deputy district attorney in charge of the office’s homicide investigations. Subsequently he joined
the Orange County Superior Court, after a brief period as a Municipal Court Judge.
Judge Carter has overseen several cases involving international terrorism, including United
States v. Afshari, et al. (2009), which involved nine defendants charged with providing material
support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, and United States v. Leung (2005), which
involved a Chinese spy charged with unauthorized appropriation of classified documents related
to national defense. Since 1994, he has been a visiting professor teaching The International Law
of Narcotics Trafficking and Terrorism at the University of California, Irvine.
Judge Carter has been a lecturer and advisor for numerous international counter-terrorism
programs, including: the Judiciary of Bosnia on behalf of the U.S. State Department; the
Sandiganbayan (Philippine Appellate and Supreme Courts) on behalf of the American Bar
Association Asia Law Initiative and USAID; the Supreme Court and High Court of Malawi on
behalf of the United States Treasury Department; the National Congress of Mexico on behalf of
USAID; the Judiciary of Armenia on behalf of the U.S. State Department; the Judiciary and
Attorney General of Afghanistan on behalf of the U.S. State Department; judges in South Asia
on behalf of the United Nations; the Judiciary of Indonesia on behalf of the U.S. State
Department; and others. He is a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War,
receiving a Bronze Star for Valor and two Purple Hearts.