Alvin Hellerstein, judge overseeing Maduro case, dies at 92
The New York federal judge was handling Nicolás Maduro’s criminal case and had repeatedly rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to move a state prosecution to federal court.
Alvin Hellerstein, the federal judge overseeing the criminal case against Nicolás Maduro in New York, has died at 92, CBS News reported on October 28, citing a spokesperson for the Southern District of New York. His death means another judge will have to take over a case that Hellerstein had handled for years.
Hellerstein had presided over matters connected to Maduro’s case since 2014, according to CBS News. He took on the criminal case in January, days after turning 92, a decision that drew criticism over whether he should oversee what could be a lengthy trial. The case concerns drug trafficking charges against the deposed Venezuelan president, AFP reported.
What Hellerstein’s death means for the Maduro case
Barry Pollack, an attorney for Maduro, offered condolences to Hellerstein’s family in a text message to CBS News. Lawyer and former federal prosecutor Duncan Levin told CBS News that a judge’s death does not automatically pause a case or impose a fixed delay. A replacement would need time to become familiar with the record and could either retain existing dates or change them, he said. Who will take over the case, and whether its schedule will change, was not immediately clear.
Hellerstein’s rulings in Trump’s New York case
Hellerstein also repeatedly rejected Donald Trump’s efforts to move his New York state criminal case to federal court. In one ruling, he wrote that reimbursing former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen for a payment to Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, could not be considered a presidential duty. A state jury later found Trump guilty in the case, which concerned records of those reimbursements, CBS News reported.
After the Supreme Court’s 2024 presidential immunity ruling, an appeals court directed Hellerstein to reconsider Trump’s arguments. Hellerstein again ruled against Trump on August 28, writing that the trial evidence did not infringe on presidential immunity, according to CBS News.
Former President Bill Clinton appointed Hellerstein to the federal bench when he was 64. Over the following decades, his cases included civil litigation arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks. AFP reported that he sometimes rejected proposed deals in those cases because he considered them unfair to claimants.
Read in depth: World
Calgary councillors seek pause on large data-centre rezoning applications
The proposed pause would give the city time to study infrastructure impacts and write zoning rules. Its effect on a project already under review remains unclear.
Netanyahu retains security powers as Israel enters caretaker period
After Israel’s 27 October election, Benjamin Netanyahu remains caretaker prime minister. Legal analysts say the government faces constraints on some decisions but retains...
Sources and context
- Alvin Hellerstein, no-nonsense judge in Maduro and Trump cases, dies at 92CBS News
- 92-year-old US judge handling Maduro case diesAgence France-Presse, published by South China Morning Post
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.