But because the trial date of October 23 is coming up quickly, the judge was doubtful that prosecutors would be ready to begin proceedings against all 19 suspects in that period of time. McAfee has at this point agreed to split Chesebro and Powell’s cases up.
“A Georgia judge decided this week that the 16 defendants, including former President Trump, will face separate trials from the two defendants scheduled to go on trial the following month in the case alleging them of being involved in an illegal plot to alter the 2020 election results.”
“The Fulton County Superior Court Justice Scott McAfee scheduled the trial for October 23 after attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro submitted requests for a swift trial. Several of the defendants, including Trump, had stated they would not be prepared for the end of October trial date and had requested to be tried apart from Powell and Chesebro.”
October 23 is the date of the trial for the cases against Powell as well as Chesebro; however, the rest of the cases are going to be tried at a future date. The judge has stated that the defendants who chose not to waive their right to a quick trial will stand trial along with Powell and Chesebro on the 23rd of October.
“Judge Scott McAfee said that separating the remaining 17 suspects was ‘a legal and organizational certainty,’ but he didn’t rule out the chance that ‘additional splits’ may be needed in the future.”
“However, the judge said that anyone who doesn’t give up their right to a quick trial by Oct. 23 will be ‘immediately’ added to the trial. Trump has already given up his right to a quick hearing.”
“His order to split the remaining cases was based on concerns about due process and the large amount of evidence in the case.”
His order said, “The Court’s uncertain ability to protect each defendant’s due process rights and make sure they have enough time to prepare for trial on the current accelerated track weighs heavily, if not effectively, in support of severance.”
Because the judge brought up the same problems, I think it’s likely that the cases will be split up even more, as he hinted at.
While former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows and a few others work out the details regarding the removal (Meadows filed an appeal against the district court decision rejecting his request to transfer the case to federal court; Trump has not yet decided whether or not to pursue this avenue), it is highly likely that most, if not all, of the defendants will follow suit in giving up their right to a prompt trial. But a few people may still decide to join Powell and Chesebro and move the charges against them ahead.
When the trial starts in late October, if it does, everyone will be watching, and there’s no doubt that Trump’s and the other defendants’ lawyers will be paying close attention to how the prosecutors present evidence and plan the trial in order to plan their own.
