Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell will have a trial on Oct. 23, but President Trump and 16 others will be tried later.
A judge ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election case won’t start in October.
The ruling (pdf) from Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court stated that the former president will be tried separately from and after the trials of two of his former attorneys, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, in the case.
No specific date has been set for President Trump’s trial in the case, where 19 defendants were criminally charged in August with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, along with a laundry list of other charges, in their efforts to dispute the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Online records from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office showed President Trump was booked on 13 charges related to allegations that a strategy by several lawyers counseling President Trump to set up alternate groups of electors in multiple states, thereby postponing the electoral vote count, amounted to a criminal enterprise. All have pleaded not guilty.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had been pushing to try all 19 defendants together, arguing that it would be fairer and more efficient.
Judge McAfee cited logistical concerns and the pending legal issues in separating the trial of Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell from that of President Trump and the other 16 co-defendants.
“The precarious ability of the Court to safeguard each defendant’s due process rights and ensure adequate pretrial preparation on the current accelerated track weighs heavily, if not decisively, in favor of severance,” the judge wrote. He also hinted at the possibility of further splitting the cases among the 17 remaining defendants.
He expressed doubts about the prosecutors’ claim that a joint trial for all 19 defendants would streamline the process.
Judge McAfee further pointed out that the Fulton County courthouse doesn’t have the space to accommodate all involved, and that finding a larger venue might pose security issues.
The prosecutors argued that they’d be presenting the same witnesses and evidence under Georgia’s RICO Act for every trial in this case, and told the judge last week they’d expect any trial to take four months, excluding the jury selection phase.
However, Judge McAfee noted that each defendant still needs time for introductory remarks, concluding arguments, cross-examinations, and challenges to evidence.
“Thus, even if the State’s case remains identical in length, and the aggregate time invested by the Court is increased, the burden on the jurors for each individual trial is lessened through shorter separate trials,” he wrote.
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