The first hearing for the 2020 Georgia election interference trial, which involves Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants, was held on Wednesday.
State prosecutors estimate that the trial will run about four months, not including jury selection, and roughly 150 witnesses will be called to testify, as reported by The Guardian.
During the hearing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee heard Kenneth Chesebro’s request to separate his trial from Sidney Powell’s, with his attorneys claiming he had never communicated with Powell.
Scott Grubman, Chesebro’s attorney, argued that the two defendants’ charges were unrelated and that Chesebro would be forced to spend additional time in the trial.
“Why should Mr. Chesebro have to deal with a jury who’s going to sit there for weeks, if not months, and listen to all of this evidence related to Coffee County and Miss Powell? He’s never been there. He’s never met Miss Powell. He’s never emailed or called her,” he said, per ABC News.
McAfee was unconvinced and ruled against the motion to separate.
“Based on what’s been presented today, I am not finding the severance from Mr. Chesebro or Ms. Powell is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence for either defendant in this case,” he said, according to The Guardian.
Both Chesebro and Powell filed motions for a speedy trial, and their trial date is set for October 23. Since Chesebro’s motion to disassociate his trial from Powell’s was declined, the two will stand trial together.
Although not all defendants have filed a speedy trial motion, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said they should all be tried on October 23.
Prosecutors from the case agreed, claiming that having multiple trials would be a waste of time since much of the information would be the same.
“The state’s position is that whether we have one trial or 19 trials, the evidence is exactly the same,” said Will Wooten, a Fulton County Deputy District Attorney, according to The Washington Post. “The number of witnesses is the same.”
While prosecutors were pushing for the October trial date, McAfee seemed skeptical and said, “it just seems a bit unrealistic to think that we can handle all 19 in 40-something days,” per the Post.
The prosecution must submit a brief to McAfee by Tuesday on whether the October 23 trial should include all of the defendants. He plans to make an official decision by Thursday.
McAfee also expressed concern over the multiple motions by defendants to have their cases moved from state to federal courts.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, and three Georgia electors, David Shafer, Shawn Still, and Cathleen Latham, have all requested their cases be moved to federal court, according to the Post.
McAfee questioned how it might affect the prosecution’s case if a federal court overturned the decision to keep the cases in the state court.
“Where does that leave us? In the middle of a jury trial with double jeopardy attached? Have you now risked your entire prosecution because this case has now been removed in federal court, and we’ve sworn in a jury and been presenting evidence against all these other co-defendants?” McAfee wondered aloud, per the Post.
“We’ve got, again, less than two months to figure this out. So I think to kind of charge ahead without coming to some thoughts on this very soon might be risky.”
Due to the considerable number of defendants and charges in this case, McAfee plans to hold weekly hearings to address any motions filed.