Marsha Michael, Ellen Gesmer, Jeffrey Oing, and Leticia James
The justices serve on the New York State Appellate Court, First Judicial Department, and will eventually hear the anticipated appeal from the former president's lawyers of his conviction last Thursday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
All but one of the Court's 21 justices were appointed by a New York State Democratic governor, either David Patterson, Andrew Cuomo or Kathy Hochul. The sole justice put on the bench by a Republican, New York Gov. George Pataki, is Associate Justice David Friedman, who is the longest serving justice since his appointment 25 years ago.
Before his elevation to the Court, Friedman was the Democratic, Republican and Conservative party candidate for Supreme Court justice in his judgeship election in 2011. In an Appellate Court's ruling during Trump's real estate fraud trial last year, Friedman sided with the former president.
One justice who did not side with Trump is the newest member of the appellate panel, Associate Justice Marsha D. Michael. She was appointed by Hochul last October.
On April 19, just three days before opening arguments were scheduled to begin in Trump's recently completed criminal trial in front of State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, Michael rejected a last-minute bid by Trump's lawyers to stop the proceedings. Her ruling gave the green light for the trial that eventually convicted Trump to proceed.
In 2014, Michael ran in the Democratic primary for the New York State Assembly in the 79th District in the Bronx. She was endorsed in that race by then-New York City Public Advocate Leticia James, who went on to be elected New York State Attorney General four years later. Last year, James prosecuted Trump and won her successful $454 million real estate fraud case.
Back when Michael was stumping for the state legislature, James appeared with her on the campaign trail.
On July 11th, 2014, Michael answered questions about her candidacy from the non-partisan good government group, The Citizens Union.
She was asked if she supported a "merit-based appointment system through creation of a commission for the selection of judges in all of New York's trial courts."
The justice did not support the idea that all judges should be chosen on the merits, writing, "I don't think all courts should solely be merit-based."
Michael lost the Democratic primary race, despite having the backing of the Bronx Democratic organization. She remained on the ballot in the general election as the candidate of the Working Families Party. The WFP is known today for supporting members of the so-called "Squad" in Congress, backing Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others.
Four years after her defeat, Michael ran again as a Democratic candidate for a New York State Supreme Court seat and won in 2018. It was from that position that she was elevated to the Appellate Division eight months ago.
Appellate Court Justice Ellen Gesmer was first elected as a judge in the New York State Civil Court in 2004. In 2011, she won a Supreme Court judgeship as both the Democratic and Republican candidate. Before Gesmer was elected to the bench, records show that she had donated thousands of dollars to Democrats.
Former President Donald Trump headlines a Republican National Committee spring donor retreat, in Palm Beach, Fla. on May 4, 2024 (Donald Trump 2024 campaign)
Despite some of the justices' past Democratic support, Trump has scored some wins before the Appellate Court in his recent appeals.
Last year, a panel of five of the justices reduced the amount of the bond that was imposed by Judge Arthur Engoron in Trump's real estate civil fraud trial, from $454 million to $175 million.
Friedman temporarily blocked Engoron's gag order on Trump, and Justice Anil Singh granted a stay that temporarily lifted Engoron's ruling that barred Trump, and his sons Donald, Jr. and Eric, from doing business in New York.
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Court observers note that there is no evidence that the personal political views of the jurists have influenced their rulings, but critics contend that the appearance of a possible conflict of interest is troubling.
Fox News asked the Appellate Court for comment but no one has responded.
Courtney De George contributed to this report.
Eric Shawn, a New York-based anchor and senior correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC), joined the network when it launched in 1996. He is currently the co-anchor of FOX News Live. Shawn is also the host of Riddle: The Search for James R. Hoffa on FOX Nation, FNC's on-demand subscription-based streaming service, which is based upon his extensive reporting into the appearance of notorious Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa.
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