Michael Joseph Roche

Michael Joseph Roche (July 22, 1878 – July 1, 1964) was a United States federal judge.

Born in An Rinn, County Waterford, Ireland, the son of William and Bridget Foley Roche. He received an LL.B. from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1908. He entered private practice in San Francisco in 1908, and was an assistant district attorney of San Francisco from 1908 to 1910. He was a judge on the Municipal Court of San Francisco from 1910 to 1914, and on the Superior Court of California in San Francisco from 1918 to 1935.

On August 21, 1935, Roche was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by Frank H. Kerrigan. Roche was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 23, 1935, and received his commission on August 24, 1935. He served as chief judge from 1948 to 1958, assuming senior status on March 1, 1958 and serving in that capacity until his death. He presided over the trial of Tokyo Rose.

Sources

• Michael Joseph Roche at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.