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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Donald Trump awaits sentencing, and faces a potential term of zero to four years behind bars.</li><li>Four former NYC judges predict he'll avoid state prison, though one calls "city time" a possibility.</li></ul>The pundits are pondering: what will happen when Donald Trump is sentenced?Will New York Supreme Court <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-judge-juan-merchan-manhattan-mental-health-court-wednesday-2024-5">Justice Juan Merchan</a> treat Trump like any other older first offender with non-violent, low-level felonies, and give him a no-jail sentence — an option that moots <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/secret-service-agent-protect-trump-jail-prison-state-federal-crimes-2021-1">Secret Service security concerns</a> and blunts further <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-reaction-hush-money-trial-guilty-verdict-2024-5#:~:text=Former%20President%20Donald%20Trump%2C%20now,%22a%20very%20innocent%20man.%22">cries of "election interference?"</a>Or will Merchan factor in all the extra stuff — Trump's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/judge-privately-blasted-trump-contempt-while-stormy-daniels-testified-2024-5?amp">courtroom outbursts</a>, his <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-hit-gag-violation-judge-threatens-jail-time-2024-5">10 gag violations</a>, his civil judgments for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/e-jean-carroll-verdict-why-no-rape-verdict-for-trump-2023-5">sex assault</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-net-worth-math-even-fuzzier-than-ny-last-alleged-2023-9">billion-dollar fraud</a>, his targeting of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hush-money-da-calls-trump-attacks-on-judges-daughter-reprehensible-2024-4">the judge's own daughter</a> — and sentence him to less than a year in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-harrowing-scenes-inside-rikers-island-jail-new-york-2022-10">Rikers</a> or more than a year in state prison?Manhattan <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-alvin-bragg-manhattan-da-trump-investigation-indictment-2023-3">District Attorney Alvin Bragg</a> has not revealed what he'll ask for on July 11, when Trump is scheduled to be sentenced to anywhere from zero to 4 years for each of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hush-money-trial-verdict-2024-5">34 counts of falsifying business records</a>.Bragg has yet to even tell his own prosecutors, the ones who tried and won the hush-money case, what sentence he'll ask for, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.Merchan, of course, won't tip his hand until the sentencing itself.<div type="image" title="juan merchan courtroom sketch" height="2268" width="3024" msid="110819496" hostid="261" sizebytes="614716"></div><h2 id="44c6f6d7-6273-4005-8f06-0e16935ee438">From the judges' mouths</h2>So, Business Insider did the next best thing.We side-stepped the pundit industrial complex and its army of former prosecutors and think-tankers. We instead asked a few of Merchan's former colleagues on New York City's criminal trial bench, the closest thing to the horse's — or judge's — mouth.Will Merchan sentence Donald Trump to jail? To prison? What would they have done as judges had Trump's case been theirs?Four former New York City judges, all reputed to be as tough or tougher than Merchan, shared their answers.All four said a prison sentence — AKA "state time," meaning a sentence of more than one year in an upstate New York prison — is inappropriate.Merchan will not sentence Trump to prison, the four agreed."He's certainly not going to give him state time — state time is really a lot," said Michael Obus, who was Merchan's supervising judge in Manhattan from 2009 to 2017."The prosecution has gotten its pound of flesh just by getting its conviction," agreed Barry Kamins, a former Brooklyn-based state supreme court justice and ex-administrative judge for the city criminal courts."We all know who Trump is and what he does," said Charles Solomon, a Manhattan-based state supreme court justice for 33 years before his retirement in 2017."But you don't want to give him such a draconian sentence that he becomes a martyr," Solomon said."Trump would be re-elected in a landslide if they put him for one day in jail," he added. "Plus, this guy doesn't belong in jail for what he did. Let's face it, enough is enough already."<div type="image" title="Rikers Island" height="2353" width="3500" msid="110819499" hostid="261" sizebytes="992614"></div><h2 id="3b9a6b8a-13ff-4672-808c-80957af850db">What about Rikers?</h2>Three out of the four former judges who spoke to BI go even further, predicting that Merchan won't give Trump a jail sentence either, meaning no "city time" — a term of less than one year in New York's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-harrowing-scenes-inside-rikers-island-jail-new-york-2022-10">notorious Rikers Island</a>.Merchan could theoretically sentence Trump to as little as a single day in Rikers, said Kamins, now in private practice at <a target="_blank" href="https://aidalalaw.com/new-york-attorneys-barry-kamins/">Aidala, Bertuna &amp; Kamins.</a>A 30-day sentence, to be served at Rikers on 15 consecutive weekends, is a more reasonable low-jail option in Merchan's toolbox, noted Solomon.But Trump shouldn't expect even this sort of short, symbolic jail sentence, said Kamins, Solomon, and a third former Manhattan judge who asked not to be named due to an ongoing connection to the courts."This is not a case where jail should even be considered," said that former judge, one of the few Republicans on the Manhattan bench in recent decades.In sentencing, both aggravating and mitigating factors are weighed, this judge noted."You have to consider the impact that a sentence will have on others," the former judge said."And in this case that means the impact the sentence will have on the entire nation. A national election is hanging in the balance," where any time spent in jail keeps Trump off the campaign trail, the former judge said."If this gets reversed" on appeal, they added, "the damage will already be done, and this judge cannot be oblivious to that."<div type="image" title="This image shows former New York Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus on the bench in Manhattan in 2011." height="1932" width="2500" msid="110819488" hostid="261" sizebytes="204640"></div><h2 id="cb79be14-c435-42f8-813e-e7cc57b84421">Appeals would delay jail for years</h2>Only one judge — Obus, the former Manhattan administrative judge — declined to rule out jail altogether, calling it a possibility, though a slight one.What might tip the scales in favor of jail? Trump's motive.Prosecutors can be expected to argue at sentencing, as they did in opening statements and closing arguments, that Trump falsified business records as part of a 2016 election-interference scheme with the National Enquirer.The supermarket tabloid ran fake stories attacking Trump's political opponents — including one doozy that accused Ted Cruz of keeping "five mistresses" — while buying and burying salacious stories that hurt Trump, trial evidence showed."This scheme, cooked up by these men at this time, could very well be what got President Trump elected," prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told jurors in closing arguments.Merchan will weigh this attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election during sentencing, Obus noted."One possibility is some kind of split sentence, say, six months of jail with a concurrent sentence of five years probation," said Obus, a member of the new statewide commission on prosecutorial conduct.But even in the unlikely event of a low-jail sentence, Trump's appeals would keep him at liberty for years, all four judges said."I've kept a client out as long as six years, pursuing appeals," said veteran Manhattan defense lawyer Ron Kuby."No one is going to incarcerate a former president of the United States until his appeals are exhausted," said Kuby."You cannot plausibly argue that Donald Trump is a risk of flight," Kuby added. "Now, you may wish that he flee," he joked. "But he is not a flight risk."Merchan has the power to immediately stay any incarceratory sentence himself, Obus noted.<div type="image" title="donald trump papers court" height="2000" width="3000" msid="110819494" hostid="261" sizebytes="969522"></div><h2 id="b8029dfe-7d8e-415b-93a1-8bbb1f2a6978">Probation, community service, and a fine are far more likely</h2>Short of jail, Trump can be fined up to $5,000 for each of the 34 records-falsification counts he was found guilty of, Obus said.Merchan can also order community service, to be monitored by the judge himself or through the city probation department."If you're older or handicapped, they won't send you out into the parks to pick up garbage," Solomon said. "They'll have you licking envelopes somewhere," he said."Maybe in Trump's case, they'll have him lecture somewhere about how you should not commit crimes," he added. "He could go to Harvard Business School and lecture about the importance of not falsifying business records."A term of three or five years probation would not be surprising, the former judges said."It's basically nothing," Solomon said. "You have to meet with your probation officer initially, and then you have to go to a kiosk every now and then, and log in, to make sure you're OK and still around."Trump can easily have his probation transferred to Florida — or Washington, DC. — the judges also noted."If you go by the statistics for people sentenced for this kind of crime, the most common sentence is probation," said Kamins."Judge Merchan, we know, takes white-collar crime very seriously, and he may choose probation — which is the most serious non-jail punishment — only because of his feelings on white-collar crime," Kamins added.<div type="image" title="A court sketch shows defense lawyer Susan Necheles questioning Stormy Daniels as Donald Trump and Judge Juan Merchan look on." height="1875" width="2500" msid="110819491" hostid="261" sizebytes="791434"></div><h2 id="0604f7ca-0b4a-4ce7-8c26-512d76cd58f8">Merchan should say less, not more</h2>It's a historic moment, the first sentencing of a former president. But given what will be an aggressively-fought appeal, Merchan may want to keep his comments brief, and focused on the conviction alone, the former judges said.Merchan has already punished Trump's ten acts of contempt of court — his gag order violations — by imposing a total $10,000 in fines. Dwelling on these violations as he explains his sentence to Trump could give the defense a basis for challenging the punishment as vindictive and repetitive, the former judges said.But Trump's history of civil fraud and sex-abuse judgments is fair game for Merchan to mention at sentencing, they said.Rehashing Trump's spoken and online attacks on the judge, the judge's family, and the criminal justice system is also fair game."He looks like an angel, but he's really a devil," Trump said of Merchan during a press conference just one day after his verdict.But less is more, the former judges said, especially if Merchan wants to limit Trump's ability to appeal the sentence by claiming it was based on the judge's personal and political animus."You can go down the list, as a judge, and say he doesn't pay the people he hires, he doesn't do this, he doesn't do that," Solomon said of Merchan's sentencing statement."But if you start making a list of how bad he is, and then you give him a light sentence, you look like an idiot," he said."Most of the time, the less you say the better," Solomon added. "You speak a couple of sentences. You say, 'I have weighed the facts of the case, and I think the appropriate sentence under the law is as follows.'"<div type="image" title="Donald Trump in court" height="1403" width="2104" msid="110819500" hostid="261" sizebytes="168236"></div>Ultimately, the judges said, Merchan will give it a good deal of thought, and then do what he sees is best."I certainly don't know what the right decision is, or what Judge Merchan will do," Obus told BI."I just know that he is thoughtful, and wise, and fair. And I'm sure he'll consider the appropriate factors and whatever he does will be the right decision," he said."That's how I'm going to find out what the right decision is," he added with a laugh.

Tough-on-crime former NYC judges say even they wouldn't sentence Trump to prison in the hush-money case

<ul><li>India’s <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> has issued a contempt notice against activist and lawyer <keyword id="6368850" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="prashant-bhushan">Prashant Bhushan</keyword> over a tweet about the Chief Justice of India (CJI).</li><li>The petition, filed by Advocate Mahek Maheshwari, claims that the tweet will “spread hate in the form of anti-India campaign.”</li><li>The petition added that the justices in India were still hearing cases over video conferencing stating, “They are not even enjoying vacation properly.”</li></ul>The latest news potboiler in India is the case against activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan where the Supreme Court has issued a contempt notice. All the fuss is over a couple of tweets that Bhushan put out criticising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on June 29. <a href="https://twitter.com/pbhushan1/status/1277483749739917318"> </a> <div type="image" title="bushan CJI tweet" msid="77107652" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Prashant Bushan&amp;#39;s tweet questioning the Supreme Court&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> <div type="image" title="bushan tweet 2_edited" msid="77107673" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Prashant Bushan&amp;#39;s tweet accusing the CJI of denying citizens their fundamental rights&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The petition filed by Advocate <a href="https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/pdf_upload-378581.pdf">Mahek Maheshwari</a> alleges that the tweet uploaded by Bhushan was nothing more than a “cheap publicity stunt” to “spread hatred in the form of anti-India campaign.” And Twitter is caught in the crossfire. The petition criticized the social networking giant’s India arm for not disabling the tweet or deactivating Bushan’s handle. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77033471" title="Twitter India has until the end of this month to respond to a plea against it for 'anti-national activities'" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> “We are, prima facie, of the view that the aforesaid statements on Twitter have brought the administration of justice in disrepute and are capable of undermining the dignity and authority of the Institution of the Supreme Court in general and the office of the CJI in particular in the eyes of the public at large,” said the court order against Bhushan and Twitter. Maheshwari added that since Bhushan is a lawyer — and an influential one at that — his remarks could seriously affect the perception of the CJI’s character and appearance. “Tweet is of serious nature putting a big question on the sovereign function of CJI and their abiding nature to the Constitution of India,” said the petition filed by Advocate Mahek Maheshwari. <div type="image" title="bushan tweet 3_edited" msid="77107695" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The picture at the center of the controvery&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The petitioner took time to appease the judges for listening to cases via video conferencing during the lockdown. “They are not even enjoying vacation properly. In Summum Bonum statement that the CJI is denying fundamental right to citizens is totally wrong,” said the petition. Summum Bonum is a Latin term which translates to ‘the ultimate goal’ or the ‘highest good’. The risk for Twitter In India, there’s already an ongoing campaign against Twitter. A series of webinars with some very influential people including the likes of BJP leader Vinit Goenka, former Infosys executive and an investor Mohandas Pai, former National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen. Pant, and a host of former army generals have called for a crackdown on the social media platform for being partisan against India’s “national interests”. Goenka has also filed a petition with the Supreme Court directing the government to create a mechanism to keep content and advertisements on Twitter in check. The social-networking giant has been at odds with the Indian government after a slew of accounts supporting right-wing ideologues were <a href="https://www.opindia.com/2018/03/read-why-these-right-wing-twitter-accounts-are-getting-suspended/">suspended</a> on the platform. There was also an incident where <a href="https://qz.com/india/1549310/twitter-says-its-a-global-glitch-indias-right-wing-smells-a-conspiracy/">disappearing</a> likes and retweets were allegedly discriminating against right-wing voices in India. Defending Twitter India, Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya, explained that necessary instructions need to be given to Twitter in order for them to take down the tweet. He added that the proper authority to address the issue lies with Twitter’s global office in California — not Twitter India. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/twitter-says-its-cracking-down-on-conspiracy-theory-group-qanon-and-has-already-reportedly-removed-7000-accounts/articleshow/77098746.cms">Twitter says it's cracking down on conspiracy-theory group 'QAnon' and has already reportedly removed 7,000 accounts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/coinbase-one-of-the-bitcoin-twitter-accounts-compromised-last-week-said-it-blocked-278000-from-being-transferred-to-the-attackers/articleshow/77074987.cms">Coinbase, one of the Bitcoin Twitter accounts compromised last week, said it blocked $278,000 from being transferred to the attackers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/twitter-india-has-until-the-end-of-this-month-to-respond-to-a-plea-against-it-for-anti-national-activities/articleshow/77033471.cms">Twitter India has until the end of this month to respond to a plea against it for 'anti-national activities'</a>

Tweets criticising India's Supreme Court get tagged as 'hate speech' and incur the judge's wrath ⁠— Twitter caught in the crossfire

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case is Juan Merchan.</li><li>He previously presided over the financial fraud case against the Trump Org. and Allen Weisselberg.</li></ul>Following <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-indicted-new-york-stormy-daniels-hush-money-payment-2023-3">his indictment this week</a>, Donald Trump is poised to face an old nemesis in court: Judge Juan Manuel Merchan.Merchan is overseeing the Manhattan district attorney's criminal case against the ex-president. He was spotted going into a Manhattan courthouse on Thursday evening, likely to review the indictment voted on by a grand jury hours earlier. That same day, he issued an order allowing prosecutors to disclose the existence of the indictment, which is normally a closely-held secret. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-hush-money-judge-juan-merchan-is-under-heightened-protection-2023-3">On Friday, court security put extra restrictions near his chambers.</a>Trump and Merchan have a history. The judge oversaw last fall's criminal trial against the Trump Organization. The company's CFO, Allen Weisselberg, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-cfo-pleads-guilty-thursday-in-trump-org-payroll-scheme-2022-8">pleaded guilty to financial crime charges</a> and testified in the case. A jury <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-found-criminally-liable-in-manhattan-tax-fraud-trial-2022-12">convicted Trump's company of numerous financial fraud charges</a>.Trump isn't fond of the judge.In a Truth Social post on Friday, he claimed without evidence that Merchan "strong armed" Weisselberg and that he was selected by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg."The Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case, a 'Case' that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME," Trump said. "His name is Juan Manuel Marchan, was hand picked by Bragg &amp; the Prosecutors, &amp; is the same person who 'railroaded' my 75 year old former CFO, Allen Weisselberg, to take a 'plea' deal."Merchan, like many judges, was reserved throughout the Trump Organization trial, although he <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-org-rests-tax-fraud-case-on-sour-note-nyc-2022-11">occasionally scolded the company's lawyers</a>. But after the jury returned its verdict, he made his views clear. In sentencing hearings for Weisselberg, he <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/trump-organization-finance-chief-allen-234200624.html">said</a> the executive was "driven entirely by greed" and that he resented having to abide by an agreement to sentence him to only five months in jail."Had I not made the promise, I would not be imposing the five-month sentence," <a href="https://www.law360.com/real-estate-authority/commercial/articles/1563964/ex-trump-org-cfo-who-implicated-company-gets-5-mos-jail">Merchan said at the time</a>. "I would be imposing a sentence much greater than that."Trump is scheduled to appear before Merchan in Manhattan court on Tuesday afternoon.<h2>Merchan oversaw a separate secret trial against the Trump Organization</h2>As the Manhattan district attorney's office spent years <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tax-returns-explainer-donald-trump-organization-2021-2">investigating Trump's finances</a>, it issued numerous subpoenas that required the Trump Organization to hand over documents.The company, however, wasn't happy to turn over its internal records. In the summer of 2021, Merchan issued orders compelling the Trump Organization to comply with four different grand jury subpoenas issued by a grand jury. When it continued to refuse, Merchan held a bench trial — without a jury — on October 7, 2021, over whether to hold the company in contempt of court.The Trump Organization lost the case. In <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/dec/c71ba19f7d058324/full.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a ruling dated December 7, 2021</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-lost-secret-trial-held-contempt-subpoenas-2022-12">Merchan said the company broke the law</a>, and that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-blamed-email-migration-to-not-produce-docs-ny-ag-2022-1">excuses about issues related to "email migration"</a> didn't hold any water."Examining the record as a whole, there, can be no doubt that [the Trump Organization's] failures amount to willful disobedience," Merchan wrote. "Despite clear warnings, the Company missed deadline after deadline, never moving to quash subpoenas and never seeking Court intervention. Some subpoenas went largely ignored and another was ignored entirely."The ruling was kept secret and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-organization-lost-secret-trial-held-contempt-subpoenas-2022-12">made public only in December 2022</a>, after the jury trial against Trump's company over financial crimes.<div type="image" title="Donald Trump" height="683" width="910" msid="99156069" hostid="261" sizebytes="34402"></div>In addition to Trump's legal troubles, Merchan is also presiding over a case against Trump ally Steve Bannon.Bragg's office is accusing Bannon of participating in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-bannons-we-build-the-wall-officially-a-zombie-charity-2023-2">a plot to steal money designated for a nonprofit</a> that was supposed to build a US-Mexico border wall. In a January hearing, Merchan flashed irritation as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-bannon-court-we-build-wall-scam-hearing-lawyers-2023-1">Bannon's lawyers squabbled</a> over their differences with the former White House advisor and refused to push back court deadlines."The law gives the court great discretion to move a case along in the public interest," Merchan said in the hearing, refusing to upend his schedule.Bannon has denied wrongdoing in the case.<h2>The judge has experience with tabloid-friendly cases</h2>Merchan was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, after his family moved to the United States when he was six years old, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/nyregion/trump-org-trial-judge.html">according to The New York Times</a>.He worked odd jobs from childhood through college: as a night dishwasher, carrying groceries, delivering meat, and as a hotel night manager, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/nyregion/trump-org-trial-judge.html">the Times reported</a>. Merchan completed an undergraduate business degree at Baruch College, <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=b285b5528a79c01e48a4efadb9df1a22c5adf5fe2335f212f4f716d3c981acdd&amp;postID=642703fcdda1a57d60766cf9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fjuan-merchan-b7205928%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to his LinkedIn</a>. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/06/nyregion/trump-org-trial-judge.html">According to the Times</a>, he dropped out for a period of time to work as an internal auditor at a real estate firm. In 1994, he graduated with a law degree from Hofstra University.He then spent the next five years working for the Manhattan district attorney's office, overseen by Robert Morgenthau. After that, Merchan had a seven-year stint at the New York attorney general's office overseeing cases on Long Island.In 2006, Merchan took a role as a family court judge in the Bronx. In 2009, <a href="https://judges.newyorklawjournal.com/profile/Supreme_Court,_New_York_County,_Criminal/Juan_Merchan/Juan_Merchan-1023.xml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he was appointed as a trial judge in Manhattan</a>, where he's been since.<div type="image" title="Anna Gristina" height="2439" width="3253" msid="99156070" hostid="261" sizebytes="949164"></div>Officially, Merchan is known as an acting justice of the New York Supreme Court. But New York, in its eternal wisdom, uses a naming scheme that's totally different from the federal system.While the US Supreme Court is the highest-level federal court, the New York Supreme Court is where trials happen, making it the lowest level in the state. Appeals are heard in the Appellate Division. The top court in the state — the equivalent of the US Supreme Court — is known as the New York Court of Appeals.Trump's criminal case is expected to combine both dry financial details and tabloid luridness. The Manhattan grand jury that voted to indict him had examined details related to hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who says she had an affair with Trump.Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer, paid Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election. He says it was part of a plot, at Trump's direction, to keep Daniels quiet about the affair.Trump has denied wrongdoing, attacked prosecutors as politically motivated, and says he never had an affair with Daniels.In his years on the bench, Merchan has overseen a number of tabloid-friendly cases. He presided over a 2013 case where two men parachuted from Freedom Tower (he said they "sullied the memories" of people who died in the 9/11 attacks, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-02/trump-judge-has-had-some-dramatic-cases-like-soccer-mom-madam">according to Bloomberg News</a>). In another case, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/nyregion/would-be-expert-on-curses-is-deemed-no-expert-and-irrelevant-in-murder-trial.html">he refused to allow a "witch doctor" to testify</a> about whether a man accused of murder was under the influence of dark spirits.Merchan's highest-profile non-Trump case was a trial for Anna Gristina, the "Soccer mom madam" convicted of running a high-end escort service in Manhattan, who later became the subject of a Lifetime movie.Gristina is not a fan of Merchan, either. On Friday, she accused Merchan of being biased in favor of prosecutors."He'll rule in favor of the prosecutors on everything," she told Insider. "He was a piece of shit."Laura Italiano contributed reporting.

Meet Juan Merchan, the Manhattan judge scheduled to oversee Donald Trump's criminal case

<ul><li>The <keyword id="3457213" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="internet-freedom-foundation">Internet Freedom Foundation</keyword> (IFF) wants Twitter to explain why it removed Prashant Bushan’s controversial tweets even though no legal request was issued to that effect. </li><li>According to the internet rights body, Twitter’s ‘proactively’ removal amounts to an impediment of the right to free speech and freedom of expression.</li><li>For Twitter, removing Bhushan’s tweet led to an acquittal from the case.</li></ul>Twitter may have wrangled itself free from the clutches of India’s <keyword id="6354977" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Supreme-Court">Supreme Court</keyword> by removing activist and lawyer <keyword id="6368850" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="prashant-bhushan">Prashant Bhushan</keyword>’s tweets from the social networking platform, but there are others who believe that the social networking giant has some explaining to do. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77649463" title="Prashant Bhushan rejects Supreme Court's offer to delay sentence but is given two to three days to reconsider statement" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), an internet rights body, has written to Twitter questioning its move to ‘proactively’ remove Bhushan’s tweets from the platform without any directive being issued to that effect by the courts. That too before any decision was made on whether Bhushan is ‘guilty of contempt’. "Twitter is committed to defending and protecting freedom of expression in India and around the globe. Nonetheless, Twitter endeavors at all times to comply with local law and Twitter’s action in this case is consistent with local legal standard," the social networking platform said with respect to IFF's letter. Removing the tweets led to the Supreme Court acquitting Twitter from Bhushan’s case ruling that, “The intention of <keyword id="749437" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter-India">Twitter India</keyword> would not be considered against the court.” <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77107560" title="Tweets criticising India's Supreme Court get tagged as 'hate speech' and incur the judge's wrath ⁠— Twitter caught in the crossfire" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> Others see it as an abuse of power. “By proactively censoring online content in the absence of any direction from a court mandating the same, Twitter’s actions in the case against Bhushan have set a dangerous precedent for free speech,” said <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gow1p29T-4_ODJJBKvG47L1NZ78dAlwRMNGNzf1rHJA/viewform?edit_requested=true">IFF’s letter to Twitter.</a> Twitter jumps the gun The Twitter feud in India stems from two tweets that Bhushan put out criticising the Chief Justice of India, Ashok Bhushan, and the Indian judiciary. Twitter was called upon to explain why the tweets were not taken down. Defending Twitter India, senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, explained that necessary instructions need to be given to Twitter for them to take down the tweet. He added that the proper authority to address the issue lies with Twitter’s global office in California — not India. “The issuance of notice by the Supreme Court does not amount to a determination of illegality in any way,” explains IFF’s letter. However, before the second hearing, the tweets disappeared from the platform and was replaced with the message, “This Tweet from @pbhushan1 has been withheld in response to a legal demand.” This even as IFF asserts that no legal demand was filed. “The removal of the actual tweets from Twitter’s platform does not serve any purpose except erasure of the historical record, especially in the absence of a clear and specific judicial direction requiring the same,” says the advocacy group’s letter. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="77539437" title="Supreme Court wields the ‘iron hand’ in holding Prashant Bhushan guilty for tweets critical of judiciary and chief justice" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The letter is led by Bhushan’s lawyer, Dushyant Dave and has a 100 signatories so far. According to the social network's latest Transparency Report, India already ranks fifth-highest in terms of removal requests globally after Japan, Russia, Turkey, and South Korea. Updated: Earlier version did not include Twitter's comment on IFF's letter. Countries ahead of India in terms of removal requests also was not included. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-eyes-indias-sharechat-as-microsoft-goes-after-tiktok-in-the-us-heres-why-it-makes-sense/articleshow/77667345.cms">Google eyes India’s ShareChat as Microsoft goes after TikTok in the US — here’s why it makes sense</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/gmail-down-users-report-being-unable-to-send-emails-and-attach-files/articleshow/77648762.cms">Gmail is working again — Google fixes issue without explaining what went wrong</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/isro-chandrayaan-2-identifies-craters-that-may-have-water-after-mapping-4-million-square-kilometres-of-the-moon-in-its-first-year/slidelist/77667105.cms">ISRO’s Chandrayaan 2 identifies craters that may have water after mapping 4 million square kilometres of the Moon in its first year</a>

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