US judge Alvin Hellerstein, who rejected Trump's hush money bids and oversaw 9/11 and Maduro cases, dies aged 92

Alvin K. Hellerstein, a Manhattan federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1998, died of natural causes on Wednesday, two days before what would have been his 93rd birthday, the Southern District of New York confirmed. He remained active on the bench until the end, having presided over the arraignment of captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on torture charges just two weeks before his death. His rulings over nearly three decades left a mark on American legal history across three of the era's defining stories.

On three separate occasions, Hellerstein rejected Trump's bids to transfer his hush money case to federal court, the most recent of which came in August.

Just two weeks ago, he entered a not-guilty plea on Maduro's behalf after the deposed Venezuelan leader twice refused to enter one himself.

An Orthodox Jew known for an independent streak, he scheduled sentencing hearings on Fridays, giving himself the Sabbath to weigh the verdicts before they were delivered.