As one of the oldest U.S. federal judges, some are unsure Alvin Hellerstein — who will be 93 or 94 when the trial starts — is best suited to preside over what could be a prolonged trial
NEW YORK —
Alvin Hellerstein, the U.S. judge overseeing the case against deposed
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, is a no-nonsense 92-year-old with a long
list of high-profile cases on his CV.
Maduro’s
next scheduled court appearance is Thursday, when he is due before the judge,
along with his wife who has also pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for
Maduro are expected to push for the dismissal of his drug trafficking charges
when he appears in a New York court.
As one of
the oldest U.S. federal judges — born in 1933 — some are unsure Hellerstein is
best suited to preside over what could be a prolonged trial for Maduro on drug
trafficking charges.
“The issue
of age cannot be ignored,” Shira Scheindlin, a former federal judge in New
York, told AFP.
Still, she
praised Hellerstein as a “very smart and savvy” courtroom operator.
His lengthy
career includes overseeing the civil cases arising from al-Qaida’s September
11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington, often rejecting deals he
saw as unfair to complainants.
Hellerstein
has also tangled with Donald Trump, rejecting a request by the U.S.
And last
year, he blocked the Trump administration from deporting alleged Venezuelan
gang members without a court hearing.
“Hellerstein
possesses a well-deserved reputation for seeking to do justice in every case
and for being independent and fair-minded,” said law professor Carl Tobias of
the University of Richmond.
In a
noteworthy 2015 ruling, Hellerstein ordered the U.S. government to release a
trove of photos depicting abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He also
presided over a trial last year in which a jury found French banking giant BNP
Paribas’s work in Sudan had helped prop up the regime of former ruler Omar
al-Bashir, awarding US$20.75 million in damages to three plaintiffs from Sudan.
Hellerstein
has handled the sprawling drug trafficking case linked to Maduro for over a
decade, which has already seen the conviction of Venezuela’s former
intelligence chief, Hugo Armando Carvajal.
Maduro’s
stunning arrest in January following a U.S. raid on his compound in Venezuela
has drawn public eyes to the case — and the aging judge in charge.
According to
The New York Times, Hellerstein was seen falling asleep during a trial last
year and needed to be roused by his colleagues.
His
attentiveness will be closely watched in the Maduro case, as tussling between
the defence and prosecution has already threatened to draw out proceedings.
“This case
may not go to trial for at least a year and maybe two years. By that time, he
would be either 93 or 94,” said Scheindlin.
“I have no
doubt that he would be fit to try the case tomorrow. But the case will not be
tried tomorrow,” she added
A graduate
of Columbia University law school, he served as a lawyer in the U.S. Army from
1957 to 1960 before entering private practice.
Article
content
He was
nominated by former president Bill Clinton in 1998 to be a district court judge
for the Southern District of New York.
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