Four Months And 150 Witnesses: Georgia Prosecutors Plan Sprawling Trial For Trump And 18 Allies

Forbes Business Breaking Four Months And 150 Witnesses: Georgia Prosecutors Plan Sprawling Trial For Trump And 18 Allies Alison Durkee Forbes Staff Following Sep 6, 2023, 02:53pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Topline The trial against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants in Georgia will take months as the state plans to call over a hundred witnesses to the stand, prosecutors told the court Wednesday, as the court decides how to try the sprawling racketeering case and whether to split up the defendants. Judge Scott McAfee presides over a hearing regarding the case against former U. S.

President Donald . . .

[+] Trump and 18 others at the Fulton County Courthouse on August 31 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images Key Facts Nathan Wade, special prosecutor for the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, told the court that prosecutors believe a trial against all 19 defendants would take four months, which does not include jury selection. Prosecutors plan to call at least 150 witnesses to the stand as part of their case, possibly multiple times if defendants are tried separately, Wade said.

The comments took place during a hearing over whether attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who have both requested speedy trials, can sever their cases from each other and be tried separately, as their attorneys argued the allegations against them are separate enough that it wouldn’t make sense to try them together. The DA’s office wants the court to try all 19 defendants together on the speedy trial timeline, with a trial starting in October, when Chesebro’s trial is scheduled to begin—though Trump has asked for his case to be separated out, arguing he shouldn’t be forced to go to trial on Chesboro’s timeline. Prosecutors suggested that if defendants are tried separately, each trial would still take months, asking the court whether it “wants to try the same case 19 times” and arguing “all the evidence is admissible against all the defendants.

” Georgia Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled Wednesday that Chesebro and Powell’s cases will be heard together, denying their motions to sever their cases from each other, but asked for more details from the state before he rules on prosecutors’ request for all 19 defendants to be tried together—though he said he was “skeptical” it would work out logistically. What To Watch For Chesebro’s trial is scheduled to start on October 23, which Powell will now join as well. It’s likely the entire trial process if all defendants are tried together would likely take far longer than four months given the issues of jury selection.

A separate racketeering case in Fulton County that has multiple defendants like the Trump case has remained in jury selection for more than six months. What We Don’t Know How attempts by some of the other defendants to move their cases to federal court could affect the case. Some of the defendants besides Chesebro and Powell, such as former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, have argued their cases should be moved, and former Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark has asked for all defendants to be moved over.

McAfee asked attorneys to weigh in Wednesday on the issue, noting that defendants can’t be convicted until a federal court and federal appeals court have determined whether the cases can be moved. That means it’s possible that if all 19 defendants went to trial in October, it could be while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is still deciding the issue, and technically the trial could continue for four months and even a verdict could be issued, only to have it all upended by a federal court ruling that cases should take place in federal court. The judge requested further briefing on the issue, suggesting it’s likely to factor into how the trial gets scheduled.

Key Background Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ office indicted Trump and his 18 co-defendants in August on 41 counts , alleging the defendants are part of a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. The indictment alleges the defendants constituted a “criminal enterprise” that conspired to unlawfully overturn the election results, claiming the defendants “knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. ” The alleged conspiracy included a number of efforts, including pressuring state legislators and officials and attempting to block Congress from certifying the results.

Chesebro was allegedly involved with what’s known as the “fake electors” scheme, in which the Trump administration orchestrated a plan for GOP officials to submit false slates of electors to Congress falsely claiming Trump won their states, while Powell was indicted for allegedly helping to breach election equipment in Coffee County, Georgia. All defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Further Reading All Defendants In Trump’s Georgia Election Interference Case Have Now Pleaded Not Guilty (Forbes) Trump Indicted In Georgia: Here Are The Crimes He’s Been Charged With—And The Prison Sentences They Carry (Forbes) When Will Trump And Fulton County Defendants Go To Trial? Here’s What We Know (Forbes) Judge In Georgia Election Case Sets October Trial Date For Ex-Trump Lawyer—But Not Trump Or Other Defendants (Forbes) Follow me on Twitter .

Send me a secure tip . Alison Durkee Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.