A Georgia judge on Thursday set an Oct. 23 trial date for lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, one of 18 co-defendants indicted with former President Donald Trump by Democrat Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis regarding allegations of conspiring to subvert the state's 2020 election results.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ordered the new trial date following a motion by Willis, who was responding after Chesebro's legal team filed a demand for a speedy trial on Wednesday night. Willis' motion had sought the Oct. 23 trial date for all 19 defendants in the case, but McAfee ruled it was only for Chesebro, who worked with local officials for the GOP in Georgia to organize an alternate slate of electors.
Willis initially proposed March 4 as the trial date for all 19 defendants.
McAfee set Sept. 6 as the arraignment date for Chesebro, with most pretrial motions to be filed by Sept. 27 and a pretrial conference set for Sept. 29.
Scott Grubman, one of Chesebro's attorneys, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday his client "will be prepared to move forward with trial on whatever date the court ultimately sets."
Earlier Thursday, former President Donald Trump filed a response saying he opposes state's Oct. 23 trial date motion and saying he would file a motion asking to sever his case from Chesebro's. He requested "the Court set a scheduling conference at its earliest convenience."
"President Trump also alerts the court that he will be filing a timely motion to sever his case from that of co-defendant Chesebro, who has filed a demand for speedy trial, or any other co-defendant who files such a demand," Trump attorney Steven Sadow wrote in the response.
McAfee has yet to address the former president's response. Trump might gain an advantage if his trial is separated from McAfee's or any other co-defendant.
"What do you do if you're Trump's team? You sit back; you watch every minute of that first trial; you see all the government's witnesses; you see them cross-examine; you take notes," CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Thursday, according to the Daily Caller. "It's like seeing the other teams' playbook opened up in front of you."
Another complication for the case is that three defendants — former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark, and former Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer — are seeking to transfer their cases out of Fulton County Superior Court to U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The Journal-Constitution cited legal experts that said if one defendant is removed, the other 18 would follow. More defendants, including Trump, are expected to file similar motions.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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