Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Who Heard Trump and Maduro Cases, Dies at 92

WHO:

Fox News - Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who was 92, oversaw cases involving Nicolás Maduro and President Trump.

ABC News - Alvin K. Hellerstein was a Manhattan federal judge who handled cases involving President Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro, and the September 11 attacks during nearly three decades on the bench.

ABC News - President Bill Clinton appointed Hellerstein to the federal bench in 1998; Hellerstein moved to senior status in 2011.

CBS News - Hellerstein was 64 when President Bill Clinton appointed him to the federal bench.

CBS News - Barry Pollack, an attorney for Maduro, offered condolences to Hellerstein’s family, saying, “We were saddened to learn of Judge Hellerstein's passing and offer our condolences to his family.”

CBS News - Duncan Levin, a lawyer and former federal prosecutor, said a new judge would need time to become familiar with Maduro’s case.

WHAT:

Fox News - Hellerstein died of natural causes; he had denied Cilia Flores’ bond request and overseen the Nicolás Maduro torture case.

ABC News - Hellerstein died at age 92. The Southern District of New York district executive, Edward Friedland, confirmed his death; no cause was immediately provided.

ABC News - Hellerstein presided over dozens of wrongful-death, injury, and property-damage lawsuits arising from the World Trade Center attack. He met victims and families for hours and rejected settlement offers he considered too low.

ABC News - In 2008, Hellerstein ended an effort to require New York City to keep searching for human remains in debris moved from Ground Zero to a Staten Island landfill.

ABC News - Hellerstein denied Trump’s bid to move his hush-money case to federal court and dismiss it on presidential-immunity grounds. It was his third rejection of Trump’s requests to move the case.

ABC News - In 2020, Hellerstein ordered Michael Cohen released from prison after the Justice Department revoked his home confinement. He found the government’s action retaliatory and a First Amendment violation.

ABC News - In 2015, Hellerstein ordered a New York City cable company to pay a Texas woman $229,500 for making 153 robocalls.

CBS News - Hellerstein presided over litigation related to the September 11 attacks, a federal lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein, Abu Ghraib abuse evidence, and David Hu’s Ponzi-scheme trial. He also ruled against Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act in a Venezuelan deportation case.

CBS News - Hellerstein’s latest ruling against Trump found that “the trial evidence does not infringe on presidential immunity.” He also wrote that reimbursing Cohen for hush money to Stephanie Clifford was not “the performance of a constitutional duty.”

CBS News - Levin said there is “no automatic pause” in Maduro’s case following Hellerstein’s death; a new judge could retain or adjust existing dates.

WHERE:

ABC News - Hellerstein served on the federal bench in Manhattan and presided over cases in Manhattan federal court.

ABC News - The Ground Zero debris at issue had been moved to a Staten Island landfill.

CBS News - Hellerstein’s court was the Southern District of New York; the hush-money prosecution was a New York State case.

WHEN:

ABC News - Clinton appointed Hellerstein in 1998; he moved to senior status in 2011.

ABC News - Hellerstein ruled on the city’s search for remains in 2008, Cohen’s release in 2020, and the robocall case in 2015.

CBS News - Hellerstein’s final ruling against Trump was dated “Aug. 28.”

CBS News - Hellerstein presided over the Maduro case at the time of his death and had taken on the case in January.

WHY:

ABC News - Hellerstein found the Justice Department’s action against Cohen retaliatory and a violation of the First Amendment.

CBS News - Trump’s hush-money case concerned reimbursements to Michael Cohen for a payment to adult-film performer Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

HOW:

ABC News - Hellerstein served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and worked as a Manhattan litigator before becoming a judge.

ABC News - The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals directed Hellerstein to reconsider his ruling, saying he had failed to consider “important issues relevant” to Trump’s request, while expressing no view on the outcome.

CBS News - The Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling led the Second Circuit to order Hellerstein to reconsider presidential-immunity arguments.

(UPDATED October 28, 2026 20:03 UTC)

Federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who oversaw high-profile cases involving President Trump and Nicolás Maduro, has died at 92. Appointed to Manhattan federal court by President Bill Clinton in 1998, he handled litigation stemming from the September 11 attacks and rejected Trump’s efforts to move his New York hush-money case to federal court. Hellerstein was presiding over Maduro’s case when he died, and a new judge will take it over, with no automatic pause in the proceedings.