Who is Juan Melchan?What you need to know about the judge in Trump’s hush money case

CNN
—

Jury selection begins Monday in Donald Trump’s historic criminal prosecution, and the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s hush money trial will take center stage in the case.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan is an experienced jurist and is well-versed in Mr. Trump’s movements. He presided over the tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, sentenced former presidential aide Allen Weisselberg to prison for his involvement in the scheme, and oversaw the criminal fraud case of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. did.

But Marchand’s long career in state-level courts will be forever marked by the former president’s charges of illegally falsifying business records over the repayment of hush money paid before the 2016 election. It’s a trial.

All eyes will be on the judge who will oversee the first trial in four criminal cases brought against Trump by state and federal prosecutors last year. The presumptive Republican candidate has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Machan has been described by observers as a “tough” judge, but one who is fair no matter who is in front of him.

Here’s what you need to know:

Mr. Trump’s trial is likely to be a spectacle, with heavy media coverage and law enforcement acting to protect the former president in a trial that is expected to last several weeks. Prior to the start of the trial, President Trump fanned the flames by stating his own views on the judge on social media.

But in court, Mr. Marchand does not tolerate disruption or delay, and lawyers who have appeared before him told CNN that Mr. Marchand maintains control of the courtroom even when cases receive significant attention. Known for maintaining

“Judge Marchand was competent, pragmatic, and listened carefully to what I had to say,” Nicholas Gravante, the lawyer who represented Weisselberg in the tax evasion case, said last year.

“He has clearly demonstrated his judicial leanings, which was extremely helpful in providing informed legal advice to Mr. Weisselberg,” Gravante said. “Judge Machan was always well prepared, approachable, and, most importantly, a man of his word in the Weisselberg matter. He was a man of his word, both in open court and behind closed doors. He treated me with the utmost respect.”

That opinion was echoed by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a private practice attorney who worked as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and oversaw cases led by Mr. Marchand.

“[Merchan] In his courtroom, he doesn’t cause trouble for either prosecutors or defendants. He does not allow media circuses or any other kind of circus to occur. I don’t think it bodes very well for him in court for Donald Trump to attack or threaten him,” said Agnifilo, who is also a legal analyst for CNN. He said this before he was charged.

Marchand has sought in recent weeks to pre-empt potential problems caused by Trump during the trial by issuing a gag order against the former president. The order prohibits Trump from publicly commenting on witnesses, court or district attorney officials, but after Trump went after his daughter on social media, Marchand later announced that the judge’s own family members It has also been expanded to include

“It is no longer just a possibility or a reasonable possibility that a threat to the integrity of the judicial process exists. The threat is very real. Warning alone is not enough, nor is resorting to restraint.” ” Machan said in his ruling, which expanded on the gag order.

President Trump is challenging the gag order, part of a broader effort to delay hush money trials.

Mr. Marchand and other judges in the state have so far rejected various attempts by Mr. Trump to delay the trial, but Mr. Marchand said last month that delays in producing discovery documents led to the decision to cancel the trial. The start date has been postponed.

Trump has a long history of attacking officials, including the judges overseeing his criminal and civil cases.

Merchant is no exception.

Last month, the former president described Trump on his platform Truth Social as a “certified Trump hater” and also attacked the judge’s daughter Lauren Marchan by name because of her ties to the Democratic Party. This prompted the judge to expand the gag order.

President Trump focused on Lauren Marchand, saying she is a senior official in an “ultra-liberal Democratic corporation” that has worked with Democratic leaders, including President Joe Biden. The former president pushed discredited claims that Lauren Marchand posted inflammatory images of the former president in her prison on her own social media account, but the court ruled the account did not belong to her. And so.

Trump also claimed that Judge Marchand ruled against him in a pretrial motion because “his daughter is working and making money to ‘get Trump.’

Lauren Marchand has not publicly commented on the incident.

It’s true that Lauren Marchan was president of Authentic Campaigns, a company that does digital campaign work including online fundraising, mobile messaging, and web design, but the company has removed references to her from its website. Therefore, it is difficult to link directly to Authentic. Certain political advertisements. Still, the company is engaged in a campaign to disparage Trump over criminal charges and other charges.

Marchan last year rejected President Trump’s request for a judge to recuse her from the case, citing her daughter’s work. In his order, he said the court had “examined its conscience and is satisfied that it is fair and impartial.”

President Trump is challenging the judge’s decision not to recuse himself from the case.

Marchan appeared harsh when Weisselberg was sentenced in 2023, saying that if he had not promised Weisselberg a five-month sentence, he would have given Weisselberg a “much heavier” sentence after hearing the evidence. He told former Trump associates that he would have won. trial.

While presiding over Bannon’s criminal fraud case, Marchan accused the former Trump aide’s new legal team of delaying the case when he asked for more time to consider new evidence.

In addition to the Trump case, Marchan has been involved in other high-profile cases, including the “soccer mom mamadam” trial in which he set bail at $2 million for suburban mother Anna Gristina, who was accused of borrowing $2,000 a year. He has also presided over lawsuits to collect It’s a one-hour escort service for wealthy people, Bloomberg News reported.

Marchand also sentenced a Senegalese man who raped and murdered his girlfriend to 25 years to life in prison.

Timothy Parlatore, then-President Trump’s lawyer, said in a CNN interview last year that he “didn’t have an easy time” with Marchand when Marchand filed the lawsuit before him, but the judge agreed that it was probably fair.

“I’ve tried cases before him before. He can be tough. I don’t think that would necessarily change his ability to evaluate the facts and the law in this case.” No,” Parlatore said.

But Mr. Marchan is also recognized by his colleagues for helping establish the Manhattan Mental Health Court, which he often presides over and has a reputation for “compassionate” decisions that give defendants a second chance. It has gained.

“I saw a colleague of mine try a shooting case where someone got shot. So he can bring those very serious violent crimes to trial and then turn around,” he said. said Brendan Tracy, a criminal defense attorney who served as an assistant district attorney. prosecutors told CNN last year.

“Maybe he’s a serial shoplifter, he’s been charged with grand larceny, he’s in mental health treatment court because he’s had mental health issues, but he can handle a wide range of cases, he can handle everything. We were able to do it fairly,” Tracy added.

Still, Earl Ward, a trial attorney and president of the Bronx Defenders, a nonprofit group of public defenders, said he has seen Marchand preside over cases in mental health court and that judges often take the prosecutor’s side. He said he stood by the

“He’s fair and his sentences are consistent with the law, but he has a reputation for siding with the prosecution in close calls,” Ward previously told CNN.

Marchan began his legal career in 1994 as an assistant district attorney in the trial division of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. A few years later, he moved to the state attorney general’s office, where he worked on Long Island cases.

In 2006, then-Republican New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Marchan to the family court in the Bronx; in 2009, Democratic Governor David Paterson appointed Marchan to the New York State Court of Claims; He began working as a deputy. New York State Supreme Court Justice.

Marchan was born in Bogota, Colombia, immigrated to the United States at the age of six, and grew up in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens in New York City, according to a New York Times profile of the judge. He was the first person in his family to go to university.

Marchan initially studied business at New York’s Baruch College, then dropped out of school for work, but returned a few years later to finish school for a law degree, the Times reported. Ta.

He eventually earned a law degree from Hofstra University.