Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday proposed a new, aggressive start date for the 41-count racketeering trial of former President Donald Trump and 18 others: Oct. 23, 2023.
The proposed date, which was included in a new court filing, is five months earlier than the March 4, 2024, start date she initially proposed last week that several outside legal experts said was unrealistically fast.
The October date came in response to a speedy trial demand filed Wednesday by attorneys for Kenneth Chesebro, a Trump-affiliated attorney who was indicted for his work helping assemble a slate of “alternate” Republican electors in Georgia.
“Without waiving any objection as to the sufficiency of Defendant Kenneth John Chesebro’s filing, the State requests that this Court specially set the trial in this case to commence on October 23, 2023,” Willis wrote.
“Mr. Chesebro will be prepared to move forward with trial on whatever date the court ultimately sets,” Scott Grubman, one of Chesebro’s attorneys, said Thursday.
Trump’s new attorney, Steve Sadow, promptly filed a motion saying the former president will move to sever his case from Chesebro’s. The motion asked Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over the case, to set a conference at his earliest convenience to discuss the DA’s motions and to set a trial date.
Under Georgia law, a speedy trial demand means a case has to be tried by the end of two terms of court. In Fulton, court terms are two months long and the current term began in July and will end on Aug. 31.
In her filing, Willis said an Oct. 23 trial date which falls within the term of the “next succeeding regular court term,” which would be September and October.
The final decision on timing ultimately rests with McAfee, who was randomly assigned the case last week.
But there are other complicating factors. One is that there are three defendants moving to transfer their cases out of Fulton County Superior Court to U.S. District Court in Atlanta, and a number of legal experts say if one defendant is removed the other 18 would follow. And even more defendants, such as Trump, are expected to file similar motions.
Atlanta attorney Andrew Fleischman said there is little case law examining how Georgia’s speedy trial rule and the federal removal statute interact.
Under Georgia law, the speedy trial demand filed by Chesebro applies to all 19 defendants.
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