JUDGE MICHAEL D. DIREDA
Judge Michael D. DiReda was appointed to the Second District Court by Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., in December 2008. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology in 1990 from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctor degree in 1993 from Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law. He served as a judicial law clerk in the Second District Court from 1994-1995 before joining the Davis County Attorney’s Office as a Deputy County Attorney. As a prosecutor, he prosecuted serious felony offenses including high profile homicide cases. During his tenure from 1995-2008, he served as the Section Chief over all criminal litigation as well as Section Chief over narcotics cases investigated by the Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force. He was a Special Assistant United States Attorney from 2001-2007 where he prosecuted cases brought under Project Safe Neighborhoods. From 2019-2022, Judge DiReda served as the Associate Presiding and Presiding Judge in the Second District. Currently, Judge DiReda serves on the Judicial Council and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Utah where he teaches trial advocacy. He is a member of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, an Editorial Board Member of the Utah Journal of Criminal Law, and a Sudreau Global Justice Institute judicial adviser to the judiciaries of Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. 3/2023
