A Fulton County Superior Court Judge on Thursday set an Oct. 23 trial date for one of the 19 defendants in Georgia’s sweeping election subversion case.
In a day of fast-moving developments, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed the new, aggressive start date for the 41-count racketeering trial in response to Kenneth Chesebro’s motion seeking a speedy trial. Judge Scott McAfee weighed in a few hours later setting the trial date Willis wanted but ruling it would apply only to Chesebro, a Trump-affiliated attorney who was indicted for his work helping assemble a slate of “alternate” Republican electors in Georgia.
McAfee scheduled Chesebro’s arraignment for Sept. 6, ordered most pretrial motions to be filed by Sept. 27 and scheduled a pretrial conference for Sept. 29.
“Due to the defendant’s timely demand for speedy trial ... scheduling will occur on an expedited timeline,” McAfee wrote. “At this time, these deadlines do not apply to any co-defendant.”
Scott Grubman, one of Chesebro’s attorneys, said Thursday, his client, “will be prepared to move forward with trial on whatever date the court ultimately sets.”
Trump’s new attorney, Steve Sadow, had earlier filed a motion saying the former president will move to sever his case from Chesebro’s. The motion asked McAfee 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.
Before Chesebro’s speedy trial motion, Willis had proposed a March 4 start date for a trial of all 19 defendants. Many said that timetable was unrealistic for such a complicated case.
The final decision on timing ultimately rests with McAfee, who was randomly assigned the case.
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.
