Michael W.V. Angel

Michael W.V. Angel was appointed to the Denver District Court in July 2024 and presides over criminal matters. Before his appointment he was a magistrate judge in Adams County, in the Seventeenth Judicial District. Earlier he represented low-income and indigent clients for a nonprofit, practiced federal criminal defense and worked as a deputy district attorney in rural and metro jurisdictions.

He is vice president of the District Court Judges Association and volunteers with the University of Denver Law School and judicial organizations. He earned his undergraduate degree at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and his law degree at Wake Forest University School of Law.

The Second Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance voted 10 to 0 that he meets performance standards. Twelve attorneys and 13 non-attorneys responded to its surveys.

The commission found him "to be diligent, professional, and committed to growing as a judge" and writes that "Judge Angel’s written decisions are clear, well-reasoned, and thorough." It also credits his fairness and impartiality, his courtroom demeanor and his knowledge of the law, and commends how he handled pro se litigants during an earlier domestic relations assignment.

The commission writes that it "did not identify any evaluation category in which Judge Angel displayed a notable weakness as to the performance criteria" and reports that he beat the court's productivity benchmark in both his criminal and domestic relations work.