Juan Manuel Merchan

Juan Manuel Merchan (born 1962/1963) is a Colombian-born American judge who presided over the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. Born in Bogotá, Colombia, he immigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in Queens, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baruch College and his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School. On May 30, 2024, the jury convicted Trump on all 34 felony counts, making Merchan the first judge to preside over a former president's criminal conviction.