Juan Merchan: Who is the New York judge presiding over Trump’s case?
Another unprecedented moment in the life and times of Donald Trump has arrived.
Just over a year after he made history by becoming the first current or former US president ever to be indicted on criminal charges, he is back in a Manhattan courtroom for the first day of his trial in the so-called hush-money case over payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
His first court appearance in the case was his arraignment on 4 April 2023. He surrendered to New York authorities and was arrested and charged with 34 felonies for falsifying business records during the 2016 race for the White House.
The former president pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mr Trump subsequently appeared by video on 23 May 2023 so that the judge could personally instruct him about the terms of the protective order issued in the case.
The former president was back in court in person on 15 February this year when Judge Merchan set an initial trial date and threw out an attempt to dismiss the case, and again on 25 March at which his legal team failed to convince the judge that the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Office mishandled potential evidence and a new trial date was set.
Here’s what you need to know about Judge Juan Merchan who is presiding over the case.
Judge Merchan is an acting justice with the New York State Supreme Court and has held the position since 2009.
The Colombian native moved to the US as a child and grew up in Queens, New York — also the birthplace of Mr Trump.
He studied at Baruch College and then Hofstra University School of Law before beginning his legal career as a Manhattan assistant district attorney in 1994.
After that, he worked in the State Attorney General’s office and was then appointed to the Bronx Family Court bench in 2006 – before joining the state’s highest court three years later.
This isn’t the judge’s first time overseeing a case involving Mr Trump.
Judge Merchan presided over both the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization and the trial of the organisation’s longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg in 2022.
In November of that year, Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in prison and five years post-release supervision after pleading guilty to tax fraud charges.
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