The judge is presiding over Trump’s criminal trial

A Manhattan defense attorney who’s not afraid to challenge a New York judge in the criminal case against a former Manhattan adviser and a serial shoplifter

Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan has sentenced Trump’s close confident Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.

The prosecutors and the defendants are not allowed to create any issues in his courtroom. He does not allow a media circus or any other kind of circus. I don’t think Donald Trump attacking him and threatening him is going to bode very well for him in the courtroom,” Agnifilo said.

He was clear about his judicial leanings, which helped me give Mr. Weisselberg informed legal advice. Judge Merchan was a well-prepared man, accessible and a man of his word in the Weisselberg matter. He treated me and my colleagues with the utmost respect, both in open court and behind closed doors.”

The Manhattan Mental Health Court has earned a reputation for giving defendants second chances, and is credited by his peers for helping to create it.

The criminal case against Steve Bannon is related to a charity that promised to help build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Bannon has denied the charges.

Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore said during an interview Friday on CNN that Merchan was “not easy” on him when he tried a case before him, but echoed that the judge likely will be fair.

I had a case in front of him. He could be tough. Parlatore said that he didn’t think it would change his ability to evaluate the facts in the case.

“I watched a colleague of mine try a shooting case where someone got shot, so he’s able to try those very serious violent crimes and then switch,” said Brendan Tracy, a criminal defense attorney who previously served as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Tracy thinks someone with mental health issues may have been a serial shoplifter who was sentenced to mental health treatment and was able to handle many other cases fairly.

Ron Kuby is a Manhattan defense attorney. He’s a no-nonsense judge who is also not one of those judges who yells at lawyers. He’s always in control of the courtroom.

In 2006, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then a Republican, appointed Merchan to Family Court in the Bronx, and Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed him to the New York State Court of Claims in 2009, the same year he began serving as an acting New York Supreme Court Judge.

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Merchan emigrated to the United States at the age of 6 and grew up in the New York City neighborhood of Jackson Heights, Queens, according to a New York Times profile of the judge. He was the first in his family to go to college. t

Merchan initially studied business at Baruch College in New York before he dropped out of school to go work only to return several years later to finish school so that he could get his law degree, the Times reported.

Trump’s hush-money case against Stormy Daniels: the Manhattan district attorney’s office didn’t respond immediately to the CNN investigation

Now that former President Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in connection to a hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, attention will no doubt turn to his arraignment and potential trial.

Two business entities controlled by Trump were found guilty of 17 counts of tax fraud and falsifying business records and were ordered to pay the maximum penalty of $1.61 million.

A lawyer who worked in the Manhattan District attorney’s office told CNN that Trump probably wouldn’t help his case if he publicly criticized the judge.