The Maduro Case Needs a New Judge |
Every Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York has that one judge he just can’t escape.
Although cases are assigned randomly through a process that combines bingo with the NBA draft lottery — sealed envelopes containing index cards, each bearing the name of one of the 40 or so district-court judges, drawn randomly from a hollow wooden wheel — every new prosecutor somehow finds that seemingly half his cases wind up with one particular judge. For me, that judge was Alvin K. Hellerstein — the man who now presides over the Nicolas Maduro case and, through a combination of inaction and irrationality, threatens to waylay the prosecution.
I don’t relish writing this. Judge Hellerstein is a good man, well intentioned and generally amiable. I did fine in his courtroom, and there’s plenty more good blood between us than bad. But he’s simply not up for the job of presiding over the single most important criminal case currently pending in our federal court system.
Judge Hellerstein took the bench in 1998, upon nomination by Bill Clinton. He’s held “senior” judicial status since 2011, which means he carries a reduced caseload. The judge is now 92 years old. He was born in December 1933; he was 11 when World War II ended, 29 when JFK was assassinated, and 41 when the Vietnam War ended. Judge Hellerstein reportedly fell asleep on the bench at times last year during his most recent trial. When I practiced in his courtroom in the mid-aughts and early 2010s, he was in his 70s. He was capable then but at times displayed spotty judicial decision-making.
Too often, Judge Hellerstein rules by gut instinct without regard for the law. As Politico delicately phrased it, the judge is renowned among........