Judge Predicts 3 to 5 Month Trial for Chesebro, Powell

Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee hears motions from attorneys representing Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell, two co-defendants of former President Donald Trump, at the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Ga., on Sept. 14, 2023. Miguel Martinez/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Judge Scott McAfee, presiding over a Georgia racketeering case naming 19 defendants including former President Donald Trump, predicted the first trial will last three to five months.

Defendants Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have demanded a speedy trial and will be tried together on Oct. 23.

During a procedural hearing on Friday, the judge went over proceedings for jury selection and scheduled additional pre-trial hearings on motions. The court has already ordered that the identities of the jurors will be kept secret from the public.

At the meeting were Judge McAfee, prosecutors Nathan Wade and Will Wooten, Brian Rafferty representing Ms. Powell, and Scott Grubman and Manubir Arora representing Mr. Chesebro.

“I'll distribute the script that I’m planning to read from for those introductory remarks and so we can all kind of work through what we think is accurate there,” Judge McAfee said, noting that the full indictment would not be read to the jurors and that the prosecutors will prepare a summary.

“My plan was to say three to five [months],” he added. “We‘d obviously be telling everyone, since there’s a lot of travel for Thanksgiving and over the holidays, we’d likely be taking off the week of Thanksgiving, we‘d likely be taking off the last two weeks of December, and we’d also likely be doing Fridays off.”

He noted that they would likely lose a lot of jurors if the case needed to proceed through the holiday weeks.

“It'd be full days at least nine to five, Monday through Thursday, and then accommodating those holiday periods,” he said.

Mr. Rafferty asked that it be entered into the introduction that his client contends she had nothing to do with the acts listed in the case.

“The idea is that we’re not summarizing the entire case,” Judge McAfee responded, adding he may consider adding a line or two at the end about the defendants’ positions. “We shouldn’t really be getting into the issues per se.”

On Aug. 14, a grand jury handed up an indictment charging the 19 defendants with violating the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and 40 other crimes. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting the case, says their actions in challenging the 2020 election results constituted a “racketeering criminal enterprise.” All defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Defining Case?

Some of the defendants’ attorneys had brought up a concern to the judge that the ruling in Ms. Powell and Mr. Chesebro’s case would in effect define the outcome of the rest of the defendants’ trials.

Judge McAfee indicated that he thought the nature of the cases and charges against several other clients were different enough that this would not be so. He had previously also indicated that the remaining 17 defendants would further have their cases severed from each other so that they are more manageable.

“Several of these motions apply to everybody,” Mr. Arora said, referencing an email another defendant’s attorney sent the judge and other counsel on Friday. “I didn’t know what the court’s position would be, because I think he made a good point saying if you rule this way with Mr. Chesebro and Powell, it’s going to be hard to reverse it for the others.”

Judge McAfee indicated it was unlikely the court would rule on universal positions for all defendants on certain charges.

“Right now I think we have to stay focused in getting this case ready,” he said. “The motions you adopted, there are certain aspects that I think would apply to your client and to Ms. Powell, but wouldn’t be as applicable to everyone.”

“The plan is to just decide those motions as they pertain to Mr. Chesebro and as they pertain to Ms. Powell. I wouldn’t foreclose their [other defendants’] ability to argue them later and any potential legal arguments that affect them differently,” Judge McAfee added.

Removals

The judge also noted that several defendants have pending requests to remove their case to federal court, and “I’m planning to check in on them.”

On Thursday, President Trump made an unexpected move in alerting the court that he would no longer be seeking a removal to federal court.

“President Trump now notifies the Court that he will NOT be seeking to remove his case to federal court,” his lawyers said in a court filing in Fulton Superior Court.

“This decision is based on his well-founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a fair trial and guarantee him due process of law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia.”

He had previously, on Sept. 7, notified the court that he might do so, and had until a deadline of Sept. 29 to do so.

Mark Meadows, former chief of staff to the president, had his removal rejected by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones on Sept. 8 and is appealing the decision in the 11th Circuit.

Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, and three alternate electors Cathy Latham, Shawn Still, and David Shafer, also have removals pending a decision by Judge Jones.