Timothy Carroll Batten Sr.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division) Retired 2025 · served 2006–2025 Appointed by George W. Bush (Republican) 4 signed orders read

Judge Batten no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Batten decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

Procedural preferences

In criminal forfeiture he holds a third-party claimant may assert its interest only through the 21 U.S.C. 853(n) ancillary proceeding, denying a premature motion to release seized property.

“the Court ADOPTS AS ITS ORDER the R&R [365] and DENIES Nugen's motion for partial dismissal of forfeiture provision and release of certain wrongly seized property [216].”

Adopts his magistrates' R&Rs denying motions to suppress evidence from investigatory traffic stops over the defendant's objections.

“Gates's motion [17] to suppress evidence and motion [23] to dismiss the indictment are denied.”

Cautions

Adopts magistrate R&Rs on de novo review and denies motions to dismiss an indictment for outrageous government conduct, following circuit law that has never sustained the defense (e.g. ATF reverse-sting stash-house cases).

“The Court adopts as its order the Report and Recommendation [108] and denies Defendants' motions to dismiss [85, 88, 89, 92].”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

United States v. Durham, et al.
1:14-cr-00395-TCB-CMS · 2015-04-30
Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied

“The Court adopts as its order the Report and Recommendation [108] and denies Defendants' motions to dismiss [85, 88, 89, 92].”

United States v. Bushay, et al. (Nugen Motor Sports, movant)
1:10-cr-00521-TCB-AJB · 2011-08-22
Motion for return of property (third_party) Denied

“the Court ADOPTS AS ITS ORDER the R&R [365] and DENIES Nugen's motion for partial dismissal of forfeiture provision and release of certain wrongly seized property [216].”

United States v. Gates
3:19-cr-00012-TCB-RGV · 2021-01-12
Motion to suppress (defendant) Denied

“Gates's motion [17] to suppress evidence and motion [23] to dismiss the indictment are denied.”

Motions to dismiss (defendant) Denied
United States v. Fisher (Buntin, third-party claimants)
1:21-cr-00231-TCB-CMS · 2024-06-21
Motions to dismiss (plaintiff) Granted in part

“The Government's motion [828] to dismiss is granted in part and denied in part. The Clerk should submit this case back to the magistrate judge for further proceedings as to the § 853(n)(6)(B) claim.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

Median motion-to-ruling time: 138 days (N = 5).

Broad general civil and criminal docket over a 19-year tenure (2006-2025): qui tam, foreclosure, employment, prisoner civil-rights and habeas, bankruptcy appeals, and insurance and diversity matters, plus a heavy criminal caseload as Chief Judge. Referral magistrates seen on his dockets include Linda T. Walker and J. Elizabeth McBath; recommendation authors include E. Clayton Scofield III and Alan J. Baverman.

A historical record

Judge Batten no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.