Michael A. Ambri
How Judge Ambri decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Procedural preferences
Enforces service-of-process and court-order compliance firmly: after repeated OSC extensions and explicit warnings, recommends Rule 4(m) dismissal (and denial of default judgment) when a pro se plaintiff still fails to file proper proof of service.
“The Magistrate Judge's R&R noted Plaintiff had failed to provide proof of service, despite the Court's multiple extensions and warnings that failure to do so would lead to dismissal. ... recommended that this Court deny the motion and dismiss this matter without prejudice for failure to serve and failure to follow a court order.”
When a summary-judgment declaration has a curable formal defect, he favors correcting the record and reopening briefing over excluding evidence that could be presented properly at trial.
“the court may . . . give an opportunity to properly support or address the fact”
Cautions
On Sec.2254 habeas, applies AEDPA deference and procedural-default/fair-presentation strictly, and rejects Brady/Napue claims built on speculation that withheld evidence exists or is exculpatory.
“A habeas petitioner cannot establish a Brady claim by merely speculating that withheld evidence would have been favorable or material. ... [claims not fairly presented as federal to the highest available state court are] procedurally defaulted.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS ORDERED Magistrate Judge Michael A. Ambri's Report and Recommendation is ACCEPTED. (Doc. 10.) IT IS FURTHER ORDERED Petitioner's Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED that Petitioner's Objection (Doc. 27) is overruled, and Magistrate Judge Ambri's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 22) is accepted and adopted, as set forth above. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Petitioner's Amended Petition Under 28 U.S.C. 2254 for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 7) is denied.”
“2. Plaintiff's Order for Default Judgment -- construed as a motion for default judgment -- is DENIED. (Doc. 22.)”
“1. The R&R is ADOPTED. (Doc. 23.) ... 3. This matter is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE.”
“IT IS ORDERED Magistrate Judge Ambri's R&R is ADOPTED. (Doc. 9.) This matter is DISMISSED. The Clerk of Court shall docket accordingly and close the case file.”
“Having conducted a de novo review, the Court concludes Magistrate Judge Ambri thoroughly and correctly analyzed the issues involved in the instant Petition. Because the Court will adopt the recommendations set forth in the R&R, as well as the reasoning behind those recommendations, it will not further restate the issues and their resolution.”
“1. The Report and Recommendation (Doc. 11) is ADOPTED. 2. The Petition Under 28 U.S.C. § 2254 for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody (Non-Death Penalty) (Doc. 1) is DENIED.”
“IT IS ORDERED overruling Plaintiff's Objections to the Report and Recommendations (Doc. 24). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED adopting in full the Report and Recommendation (Doc. 23) and affirming the decision of the Commissioner.”
“(1) United States Magistrate Judge Ambri’s Report and Recommendation (Doc. 20) is accepted and adopted. (2) Defendant’s objections are rejected. (3) The final decision of the ALJ is reversed and this case is remanded for further proceedings.”
“IT IS ORDERED overruling Defendant’s objections (Doc. 53) and adopting in full the R&R (Doc. 52). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED granting in part Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 37) and denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 41), consistent with Judge Ambri’s Recommendation (Doc. 52 at 13:20-14:2).”
“IT IS FURTHER ORDERED granting in part Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 37) and denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 41), consistent with Judge Ambri’s Recommendation (Doc. 52 at 13:20-14:2).”
“IT IS ORDERED: 1. The Magistrate Judge’s R&R (Doc. 21) is adopted. 2. Plaintiff’s Objection (Doc. 27) is overruled. 3. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 14) is granted in part.”
“(1) United States Magistrate Judge Ambri's Report and Recommendation (Doc. 19) is accepted and adopted in its entirety. (2) Petitioner's objections are rejected. (3) The Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus (Doc. 1) is dismissed.”
“IT IS ORDERED: the Magistrate Judge's Report and Recommendation is ADOPTED. (Doc. 81.) Defendant's Motion to Suppress is DENIED. (Doc. 38.)”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Ambri has served in the Tucson Division since March 2023. His sampled docket includes a substantial volume of criminal-duty matters, such as search-warrant applications and border and immigration initial appearances and detention proceedings. Civil cases handled with the parties' consent include Social Security disability appeals, housing and disability-accommodation suits, immigration-mandamus actions, medical-malpractice and employment cases, and copyright matters. Many consent civil cases settled or were voluntarily dismissed, leaving relatively few dispositive rulings. This describes the mix of sampled matters, not an overall outcome rate.
Put Judge Ambri's record to work
Ezel drafts and answers grounded in this exact profile: how Judge Ambri actually rules, not a generic AI guess.
Opens in Ezel Pro. Every answer is grounded in Judge Ambri's own signed orders and cites them.