The Radical Reading Room

Alvin K. Hellerstein, the Manhattan federal judge whose cases included matters involving Donald Trump, Nicolás Maduro and the Sept. 11 attacks, has died at 92. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain announced his death Wednesday, and the Southern District of New York’s district executive confirmed it, according to separate reports. Hellerstein had served on the federal bench for nearly three decades.

President Bill Clinton appointed Hellerstein in 1998. At the time of his death, he was presiding over the federal case against Maduro and Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. The pair appeared before him about two weeks earlier after new charges alleging torture were added to the case, the reports said. The accounts describe these as allegations, not court findings.

At the hearing, Maduro condemned the charges and did not enter a plea when asked. Hellerstein then entered a not-guilty plea on Maduro’s behalf, according to both reports. Hellerstein also presided over cases involving Trump, and his docket included litigation related to the Sept. 11 attacks, the reports noted.

The reports identify Hellerstein as the judge overseeing the Maduro prosecution but do not name a successor or describe any court action following his death. They also do not report a change in the status of the charges. Hellerstein was 92.