The district attorney in Atlanta, Fani Willis, is overseeing the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others. On Tuesday, Willis made a request to Judge Scott McAfee to order that defendants who have been granted speedy trials be tried together. This would mean that all the defendants would face trial as a group, rather than having separate trials. Additionally, Willis asked the judge to set a deadline for the defendants to file requests to sever their cases, giving them the opportunity to separate from the joint trial if they wish.
Currently, only two defendants in the case, attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, have requested speedy trials on the racketeering and other charges they are facing. Chesebro’s trial has already been scheduled for late October, but Powell is still awaiting a trial start date. However, it is anticipated that more defendants will make similar requests for speedy trials, which would require their trials to begin by November 3.
While some defendants may seek speedy trials, others, including Trump and several co-defendants, may be less inclined to do so. Their charges are related to their attempts to overturn Trump’s defeat in the 2020 Georgia election against President Joe Biden. In her court filing, Willis argued against severing the cases and advocated for all the defendants to be tried together. She insisted that at the very least, Powell’s trial and any other defendant who requests a speedy trial should be scheduled for the same date as Chesebro’s trial.
Under Georgia laws, defendants facing criminal charges have the right to request a speedy trial. If this request is granted before the court’s next regular term, the defendants can proceed quickly with their trial. However, if the request is not granted within the specified timeframe, the defendants are cleared of any charges against them. Willis previously called on Judge McAfee to set the trial date for all defendants, including Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Mark Meadows, on the same date that Chesebro’s trial was scheduled. However, Trump’s legal team swiftly opposed this request.
In response to Willis’s request, Judge McAfee stated that the deadlines set for Chesebro’s case do not currently apply to the co-defendants. While he has set a trial start date for Chesebro, he has not extended this deadline to the other defendants. The judge exercise discretion in deciding whether to allow separate trials or proceed with joint trials for all the defendants involved in the case.
The district attorney in Atlanta is pushing for joint trials in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and 18 others. She argues that all defendants should be tried together, but at the very least, requests for speedy trials should result in coordinated trial dates. The decision now lies with the judge to determine whether to grant the request for joint trials and set deadlines for the defendants to file requests to sever their cases. As this case unfolds, further updates will be provided.
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