When Donald Trump enters a courtroom on Tuesday to appear before Judge Juan Mercan to face criminal charges, it will be first territory for the former US president, but familiar territory for a Manhattan criminal court magistrate who has previously heard lawsuits from some of his close associates. Republican, reports Reuters and CNN.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan presided over a criminal trial against the Trump Organization last year that ended with a jury finding the real estate company guilty of tax fraud and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleading guilty and sent to prison.

Juan Merchan also oversaw the criminal fraud case against former advisor Steve Bannon.

But Tuesday’s historic Trump trial will likely be Merchan’s most important case, even after a long career.

Trump is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday in a wide-ranging investigation that accuses him of paying porn star Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election. Specific charges have not been made public.

Susan Necheles, Trump’s lawyer, told Reuters that the former president would plead not guilty.

Juan Merchan is a “man of his word” who “doesn’t allow a circus in the courtroom”

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

In court, Merchan does not tolerate interruptions or delays, lawyers who have argued cases before him told CNN, and he is known to maintain control of the courtroom even when his cases attract significant attention.

“Judge Merchan was efficient, practical and listened carefully to what I had to say,” said Nicholas Gravante, the attorney who represented Weisselberg.

“He clearly showed his judicial leanings, which greatly helped me to provide sound legal advice to Mr. Weiselberg. Judge Merchan has always been well-prepared, approachable and – most importantly in the Weisselberg case – a man of his word. He treated me and my colleagues with great respect, both in public and behind closed doors.”

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a lawyer who previously worked as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, overseeing cases Merchan presided over, said the judge does not allow circuses in his courtroom.

“[Merchan] don’t let prosecutors or defendants cause trouble in the courtroom. It does not allow media circus or any other kind. I don’t think if Donald Trump is going to attack him and threaten him, that’s not going to bode well for him in the courtroom,” Anyifilo said.

Lawyers say that Merchan is tough, but at the same time compassionate

Merchan showed his harshness in sentencing Weiselberg, telling the former Trump aide that if he hadn’t already been promised a five-month sentence, he would have given him a “much longer” sentence after hearing the evidence in court. .

When he presided over Bannon’s fraud case, Merchan chided the former Trump adviser’s new legal team for delaying the trial when they asked for more time to consider new evidence.

Trump attorney Timothy Parlator said in an interview with CNN on Friday that Merchan “took it easy” when he admitted the case before him, but said the judge was likely to be fair.

However, colleagues also credit Merchan with helping create the Manhattan Mental Health Court, which he often presides over and where he has earned a reputation for “compassionate” decisions that give defendants a second chance.

Still, Earl Ward, an attorney and president of the Bronx Defenders, said after watching Merchan preside over cases in Mental Health Court, he could tell the judge often sided with prosecutors.

“He’s fair and his decisions follow the law, but if it’s a tough, tough decision, it’s going to win the prosecution,” Ward said.

Born in Colombia, immigrated to the USA at the age of 6

Merchan began his legal career in 1994 as an assistant prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. A few years later, he moved to the state attorney general’s office.

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

Merchan originally studied business administration at Baruch College in New York before dropping out to go to work, only to return a few years later to finish school to earn a law degree, the Times reported.

He later earned a law degree from Hofstra University.