Former President Donald Trump won’t have his day in court in October a Georgia judge ruled Thursday, saying the high-profile defendant could sever his case from two co-defendants who want to move more quickly.
“Severance is an absolute necessity,” Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee said, adding that multiple trials may be necessary to deal with the logistical complications of trying 19 people in a case related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Trial for two defendants – lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell – will go ahead as scheduled Oct. 23. Those two invoked their right to a speedy trial, but other defendants have not yet done so.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis argued in a filing Tuesday night to try all 19 defendants at once. That is preferable for prosecutors who are bringing charges under Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) laws, since it allows them to tell a story of a conspiracy.
One trial also prevents some defendants from having an advantage over others by seeing prosecutors’ arguments and witness testimony ahead of their own trials. And Willis argued in her filing that it would be onerous to both the Fulton County criminal justice system and the witnesses themselves to argue essentially the same case over and over again.
Mug Shots of Trump and His Co-Defendants
But McAfee said it would also be unwieldy and unworkable to try all 19 defendants – who would bring their individual legal teams with them – in one trial and in one room.
“Beginning with the logistical concerns, the Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team,” McAfee said in the ruling. “Relocating to another larger venue raises security concerns that cannot be rapidly addressed.”
While Willis argued that a single trial – which she said would take about four months – is the most efficient, McAfee said Thursday that court officers “must consider the ripple effects of a months-long, multi-defendant trial on the local criminal justice system, sidelining dozens of defense counsel from handling other cases and preventing this Court – and quite likely most colleagues – from managing the rest of the docket.”
McAfee did not say how many separate trials would be scheduled, or when they would occur. “That is a decision for another day once the many anticipated pretrial motions have been resolved and a realistic trial date approaches,” he said.
McAfee has been holding hearings on Thursdays to settle various questions and motions related to the Georgia case, which charges 19 defendants in a conspiracy to take away President Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election there and give the states’ 16 electors to Trump.
Several of the defendants, including Chesebro, Powell, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, want to be tried separately. Powell and Chesebro lost their bid to be tried separately from each other, but by invoking their right to a speedy trial, will almost certainly be the only ones facing prosecutors on Oct. 23.
Meadows has also sought to move his case to federal court, arguing that his role as chief of staff meant that his actions were subject to federal law instead of Georgia law. Meadows was denied that request by a judge, but is appealing.
Fulton County prosecutors would still try the case if it were moved to federal court, but the jury pool would include areas well beyond the Atlanta area, possibly giving Meadows a more sympathetic group of citizens judges of his behavior.
In a blow to Meadows – and to efforts by the Trump team in general to slow down the entire process ahead of the 2024 election – McAfee Thursday also refused to pause the Georgia case against Meadows while the appeal is pending.
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2023-09-14/georgia-judge-rejects-effort-to-try-trump-18-others-in-october
