Who is Juan Merchan, the NY judge handling Trump's case?

New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan has presided over criminal cases against former President Donald Trump’s company, its former finance chief and one of Trump's former White House aides. Now Merchan is poised to take the historic hush-money prosecution of Trump himself. Trump says he's “completely innocent” and being targeted in a “political persecution.” He has seized on Merchan’s involvement, saying the judge hates him. Merchan is a former prosecutor with 16 years on the bench. A lawyer who represented the former finance chief of Trump's company says Merchan was “a real listener” who kept his word.