Juan Merchan

Juan Manuel Merchan[1] (born 1962/1963)[2] is an American judge and former prosecutor currently serving as an acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court in New York County (Manhattan).

Juan Merchan
Justice of the New York Supreme Court
Acting
Assumed office
2009
Appointed byAnn Pfau
Personal details
Born
Juan Manuel Merchan

1962 or 1963 (age 60–61)
Bogotá, Colombia
EducationBaruch College (BBA)
Hofstra University (JD)

Early life and education

Merchan was born in Bogotá, Colombia.[3] He immigrated to New York City when he was six years old, growing up in Jackson Heights, Queens, as the youngest of six children. His father had been a military officer in Colombia.[4] Merchan studied business at Baruch College in Manhattan, graduating in 1990, and earned his Juris Doctor from Hofstra University School of Law on Long Island in 1994.[2] He was the first member of his family to go to college.[5]

Career as prosecutor

In 1994, Merchan began his career as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.[6] He worked in both the office's Trial Division and its Investigations Division,[1] prosecuting financial frauds and other cases.[6] From 1999 to 2006, he worked for the New York State Attorney General's office, first as Deputy Attorney General in-Charge, Nassau County Region (1999-2001), then as Assistant Attorney General in-Charge of Affirmative Litigation for Nassau and Suffolk Counties (2003-2006), and then as Assistant Attorney General in-Charge Nassau County Region (2003-2006).[1]

Career as judge

Merchan became a judge in 2006, when New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed him to the New York City Family Court, Bronx County.[6] He remained in that role until 2009.[1]

Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau appointed Merchan as an Acting Justice in the Supreme Court of New York, New York County, Criminal, in 2009, and he has served on in that position since that time.[1] In this position, Merchan presides over felony criminal trials.[1]

Merchan also previously served concurrently as a judge of the New York Court of Claims, being appointed to that role by Governor David Paterson in 2009 and serving until 2018.[1]

Notable cases

In 2011, Merchan presided over the case of a New York Police Department sergeant William Eiseman, who admitted to conducting illegal searches and then lying about his actions in court. Eiseman pleaded guilty to first-degree perjury and official misconduct, and Merchan sentenced him to 24 days in jail; Eiseman also forfeited his pension.[7][8]

In 2012, Merchan presided over the criminal proceedings against Anna Gristina, who was charged with operating an upscale prostitution ring on the Upper East Side.[9][10] Gristina and a co-defendant had been arrested in February 2012, after an investigation by the Manhattan DA's office.[10] Merchan set bail at a $2 million bond, or $1 million cash; because Gristina was unable to meet this amount, she was detained at Rikers Island jail for four months.[11] The Appellate Division lowered Merchant's bail to $250,000 bond or $125,000 cash, on condition that she give up her passport and be electronically monitored.[11] The suburban-dwelling defendant—nicknamed the "Soccer Mom Madam"—ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of promoting prostitution, and Merchan sentenced her to six months in jail, which amounted to time already served due to the four months Gristina had spent four months at Rikers before being bailed.[12][13]

In late 2022, Merchan oversaw the five-week criminal trial of the Trump Organization; the organization was convicted of 17 counts of tax fraud.[14]

He also presided over the criminal case of Donald Trump's former financial chief Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to his role in a 15-year-long tax-fraud scheme.[15][16] Weisselberg admitted to evading taxes by accepting $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation and entered a plea agreement, in which he testified against The Trump Organization and helped to secure the company's conviction.[17] Merchan sentenced Weisselberg to five months at Rikers Island and said he would have imposed a substantially longer sentence but for the plea agreement.[16]

Merchan is the judge assigned to preside over the criminal trial of Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who was indicted in September 2022 on charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with a fundraising scheme. The case is set for trial in November 2023.[18]

On April 4, 2023, Merchan oversaw the arraignment of former U.S. president Donald Trump on 34 felony counts.[19] The indictment of Trump, delivered by a grand jury on March 30, was unsealed the same day, with Trump pleading not guilty.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Judges Profiles: Juan Merchan". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  2. Gregorian, Dareh; Reiss, Adam (March 31, 2023). "Who's Judge Juan Merchan? Trump says he 'hates me' but lawyers say he's fair". NBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  3. "Juan Merchan: Who is the judge likely to try Trump's criminal case?". The Independent. 2023-03-31. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  4. Rashbaum, William K.; Bromwich, Jonah E. (December 6, 2022). "Judge in Trump Company Trial Knew How to Read the Numbers". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  5. Kashiwagi, Sydney (April 1, 2023). "Meet the judge presiding over Trump's criminal arraignment". CNN. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  6. Michael Gold, This will be Justice Juan M. Merchan's second time overseeing a Trump case., New York Times (April 4, 2023).
  7. John Eligon, Police Sergeant to Get Jail Term for Perjury and Illegal Searches, New York Times (June 27, 2011).
  8. Melissa Grace, NYPD Sgt. William Eiseman pleads guilty to lying under oath in plea deal, New York Daily News (June 27, 2011).
  9. Anne Barnard and Colin Moynihan, Charged as Madam, and Defended as Entrepreneur and Pig Rescuer, New York Times (March 7, 2012).
  10. Noah Rosenberg, New Lawyers for Woman Charged as High-End Madam, New York Times (March 15, 2012).
  11. Russ Buettner, Woman Said to Be a Madam Wins a Big Cut in Her Bail, New York Times (June 13, 2012).
  12. Russ Buettner, Suburban Mother Pleads Guilty to Running a Brothel on the Upper East Side, New York Times (September 26, 2012).
  13. Bob Van Voris, Trump Judge Has Had Some Dramatic Cases, Like 'Soccer Mom Madam', Bloomberg News (July 2, 2021).
  14. "Donald Trump is already attacking the judge handling his hush money case and spelling his name incorrectly". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-03-31.
  15. Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Jonah E. Bromwich, Trump Executive Nears Plea Deal With Manhattan Prosecutors, New York Times (August 15, 2022).
  16. Trump's Longtime Finance Chief Sentenced to 5 Months in Jail, New York Times (January 10, 2023).
  17. Michael R. Sisak, Trump executive pleads guilty in tax case, agrees to testify, Associated Press (August 18, 2022).
  18. Kates, Graham (December 16, 2022). "Steve Bannon facing same judge who presided over Trump Organization trial". CBS News. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  19. Jonah E. Bromwich; William K. Rashbaum; Ben Protess; Maggie Haberman (4 April 2023). "From President to Defendant: Trump Pleads Not Guilty to 34 Felonies". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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