Richard Paul Matsch

Richard Paul Matsch (born 1930) is a senior United States federal judge.

Matsch was born in Burlington, Iowa. He earned his A.B. from the University of Michigan in 1951, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1953. He served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955. He was an attorney in private practice in Denver, Colorado from 1956 to 1959. He was an assistant U.S. Attorney of the District of Colorado from 1959 to 1961. He was a deputy city attorney of City and County of Denver, Colorado from 1961 to 1963. He was in private practice in Denver, Colorado from 1963 to 1965. He was a Referee in Bankruptcy, District of Colorado from 1965 to 1973, and thereafter served as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Colorado during 1973-1974.

Matsch is a federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Matsch was nominated by President Richard M. Nixon on January 31, 1974, to a seat vacated by Olin H. Chilson. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 1, 1974, and received his commission on March 8, 1974. He served as chief judge from 1994–2000, during which time he presided over the trial of Oklahoma City bombing defendants Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. He assumed senior status on July 1, 2003.

Matsch was also a judge in a lawsuit (Phillips et al. vs. Lucky Gunner)^[1] in Denver, Colorado where Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter, Jessica Ghawi, was one of 12 people killed in the 2012 Aurora Shooting. Matsch dismissed the case and ordered that Sandy and Lonnie Phillips pay $220,000 in legal costs.^[2]

References

Sources

• Richard Paul Matsch at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Hon. Richard P. Matsch District of Colorado
• Romano, Lois (May 12, 1997). "Richard Matsch Has a Firm Grip on His Gavel in the Oklahoma City Bombing Trial". National Special Report: Oklahoma Bombing Trial. Washington Post. Retrieved April 15, 2010.