` Tiger King' prosecutor takes on new role
A prosecutor who put Joe Exotic away is now a magistrate judge at the same courthouse where he was convicted last year.
Amanda Maxfield Green was sworn in Oct. 9 to her new role at the Oklahoma City federal courthouse.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be selected as a magistrate judge, and I look forward to being of service to the people of the Western District of Oklahoma,” she said Friday.
Joe Exotic—whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage — is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison. A jury found the big cat breeder guilty of twice trying to have rival Carole Baskin killed.
Green, 43, was the lead prosecutor at the murder- for- hire trial. She was interviewed about the case for the hit Netflix true-crime documentary series ,“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem a nd Madness.” She also did a re-enactment of parts of her closing argument.
ET News has suggested that Academy Award winner Charlize Theron would be a fun choice to play her alongside Kate McKinnon as Baskin in an upcoming NBC limited series.
“Mr. Passage built his own kingdom, the GW Exotic Animal Park ,” she told jurors on April 2, 2019. “He was the Tiger King. But here' s the problem with kings: They get used to making all the rules and they start to believe that they are above the law. And that's how Mr. Passage came to think of himself.
“It's your job now to make sure that no one, not even the Tiger King, is allowed to be above the laws of the United States.”
Joe Exotic lashed out at prosecutors on Facebook after his conviction. He filed a civil rights lawsuit in March against Green, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a federal agent, former business partner Jeff Lowe and others. He dropped the case in August.
Green was chosen for her new role by the U.S. district judges in Oklahoma City.
The chief judge, Timothy D. DeGiusti, cal l ed her a great addition.
“She brings a wealth of legal experience to the position, including private practice with a prominent civil law firm, and many years of distinguished public service as an assistant U.S. attorney in this district.,” DeGiusti said.
Magistrate judges handle a broad range of duties, including felony pretrial matters, misdemeanor cases, search warrant applications and some civil matters.