Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked the judge presiding over the sprawling racketeering indictment against former President Donald Trump to expedite the trial for "all 19 defendants" to Oct. 23, 2023.
Willis's Tuesday request came just days after co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro made demands for a speedy trial, prompting Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to sever his case from the other 18 defendants and set Chesebro's trial for the end of October.
"Accordingly, the State of Georgia respectfully seeks clarification from the Court as to whether the Court's intention was to sever Defendant Chesebro's trial from the other Defendants," Willis wrote, indicating she wants Trump and the other 17 to be tried alongside Chesebro.
Willis argued that any attempts to be tried separately are "improper at this juncture" and requested that Chesebro and other defendants who have filed for a speedy trial should have a trial scheduled on the Oct. 23 date.
"The State maintains its position that severance is improper at this juncture and that all Defendants should be tried together, but at an absolute minimum, the Court should set Defendant Powell’s trial and that of any other defendant who may file a speedy trial demand on the same date as Defendant Chesebro’s," Deputy District Attorney John Will Wooten wrote in a four-page legal brief.
Chesebro demanded a speedy trial on Aug. 24, to which McAfee set a date and added "at this time" the scheduling change did not apply to anyone else. Sidney Powell, another co-defendant, also filed demands for a speedy trial last week. Separately, five other defendants are trying to have their cases moved from state to federal court.
Ever since a grand jury handed up an indictment in the sweeping 41-count racketeering case earlier this month, Willis has stated her desire to try all of the defendants simultaneously.
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Willis also requested that McAfee establish a deadline for any defendant seeking to file a motion to sever from the larger case, to allow other parties and the prosecutors "sufficient time to brief the severance issue."
This is a developing story and will be updated.