Patricia Head Minaldi

Patricia Minaldi (née Head; September 12, 1958 – December 1, 2018) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Education and career Born in Somerville, Massachusetts to John and Florence Head, Patricia Minaldi graduated from Wesleyan University with her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980 and later from Tulane University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1983. Following law school graduation, Minaldi was an assistant district attorney of New Orleans from 1983 to 1986. She was an assistant district attorney of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana from 1986 to 1996. She was a judge on the 14th Judicial District Court, Louisiana from 1996 to 2003. Federal judicial service Minaldi was nominated to the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana by President George W. Bush on January 15, 2003. The seat had been vacated by Judge James Travis Trimble Jr., who took senior status. Minaldi was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 6, 2003, and received her commission on May 9, 2003. She assumed inactive senior status on July 31, 2017, due to a certified disability, no longer hearing cases or participating in the business of the court. She was found dead in her Lake Charles, Louisiana home on December 1, 2018, of apparent natural causes. DWI conviction In 2014, Minaldi was arrested by Lake Charles, Louisiana police for having an open alcoholic beverage inside her vehicle. Following a police investigation, Minaldi was charged with first-offense driving while intoxicated (DWI). Minaldi subsequently pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility in court; she received a deferred sentence and was fined $400, among other penalties.