Trump won't have to stand trial in October, Georgia judge says

[Celerity]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/09/14/georgia-trump-case-judge-mcafee/

https://archive.ph/hG1LZ



ATLANTA — A Georgia judge ruled Thursday that Donald Trump and 16 other co-defendants won’t have to go to trial in October with two others who have sought a speedy trial, effectively denying an Atlanta-area prosecutor’s bid to try all 19 together in the sprawling criminal case alleging interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said in a Thursday order that he could move to sever additional cases but said for now that former Trump campaign attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell will stand trial beginning Oct. 23. He did not issue a trial date for Trump and 16 other associates, but he denied a bid by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and others seeking to pause proceedings while their efforts to move their cases to federal court play out.

McAfee wrote “that severing the remaining 17 co-defendants is simply a procedural and logistical inevitability.” “Severance is an absolute necessity. Additional divisions of these 17 defendants may well be required,” the judge added. “That is a decision for another day once the many anticipated pretrial motions have been resolved and a realistic trial date approaches.”

An Atlanta-area prosecutor leading the case has argued that separate trials would be a “logistical quagmire” for the court system, witnesses and anyone else involved in the case. Setting trial dates will likely be a challenge for McAfee, given an avalanche of motions from the various defendants. Among the challenges: Trump does not want to be tried with anyone seeking a speedy trial, and Meadows wants to stand trial alone, but only after he exhausts his appeals on his request to move his case to federal court.

snip

[triron]

1. Got to make sure Trump is treated with kid gloves.

[drray23]

2. not really. McAfee has not been favoring Trump. He is competent.

All his court appearances are broadcast live. I just heard this morning when he was ruling/hearing motions. This guy is not a Trump sycophant like Cannon.
The issue here is that Georgia law mandates that defendants who ask for speedy trial be granted this. Two of them did and they go first. All remaining 17 including Trump will be tried separately because they did not file for a speedy trial motion.

[Thomas Hurt]

3. What I was hearing from pundits was dealing with 19 defendants at one time....

was going to be a giant hassle. I can see them breaking them up into three or four groups. Donnie will be push to tried last of course.

[lindysalsagal]

4. The indictment was the easy part. Conviction will be much tougher. But it's coming.

[usonian]

5. I'm OK with that as long as the sentencing precedes the trial.

Like it does in his Mother Russia.

(Yeah, I know that's not legal, but who says that the court of Karma doesn't sentence him earlier?)