Trump's historic arraignment on Tuesday will perhaps be Acting New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan's most high-profile case to date, even after a long career atop the state-level trial court.
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with around two dozen counts, including felonies, sources familiar with the sealed indictment told ABC News.When Donald Trump enters a New York courtroom on Tuesday, he'll face a seasoned judge who is no stranger to the former president's orbit.
"Judge Merchan was efficient, practical, and listened carefully to what I had to say," Nicholas Gravante, the attorney who represented Weisselberg in his plea, said via email. "The judge is the kind of judge where he will ignore it and not hold it against Donald Trump. He's not vindictive in any way like that."Merchan showed some of his tough side when Weisselberg was sentenced, telling the former Trump associate that if he had not already promised him a five-month sentence, he would have handed him a "much greater" sentence after having listened to evidence at trial.
Merchan also handed a 25-years-to-life sentence to a Senegalese man who raped and murdered his girlfriend.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 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.
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