Prosecutors charging former President Donald Trump and 18 others over an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia are calling for defendants to be tried in a joint trial, citing a need for fairness and efficiency.
The request comes as Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee could decide as soon as this week whether to allow two defendants in the sweeping racketeering indictment to head to trial on Oct. 23 and sever their case from 17 others, including Trump.
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Holding several lengthy trials rather than one joint trial would “create an enormous strain on the judicial resources” of the county superior court and may give favor to defendants tried later, who would have the advantage of seeing the state's evidence and arguments ahead of time, prosecutors wrote in a filing obtained by multiple outlets.
After a grand jury handed up an indictment in the multi-defendant case last month, District Attorney Fani Willis said she wanted to have a joint trial.
Defendants Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell have demanded a right to speedy trial and are on track to have jury selection begin in their case in late October. McAfee said last week during the first livestreamed hearing in the case that it would be a bit "unrealistic" to have all of the defendants head to trial at the same time and asked Willis's team to explain why it would be necessary.
Other defendants in the case have either filed a motion to be tried alone or in smaller groups.
Five defendants including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have sought to have their case removed to federal court, though Georgia law permits cases to proceed in state court while appeals are ongoing after a federal judge denied his removal bid on Friday. Trump's lawyer Steven Sadow recently signaled he may seek to remove his case to federal court and make an ultimate decision before the end of September.
Willis's team also said Tuesday that the deadline for making speedy trial requests is Nov. 5, and if such demands were filed it would mean one or more trials would begin within the two-month court term that starts on Nov. 6, while the trial for Chesebro and Powell would likely still be ongoing. Prosecutors said this could cause multiple trials in the case to happen at the same time and cause "unavoidable burdens" on witnesses and victims, along with potential security issues.
Trump on Wednesday filed a waiver of his speedy trial rights in state court "in exchange for the severance he previously requested in his motion to sever" on Aug. 31, meaning he seeks to be tried separately from the other defendants.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones rejected Meadows's bid for a federal court removal on Friday, and on Wednesday he rejected Meadows's motion to put the possibility of conviction in state court on hold.
Meadows has raised concerns that he could be convicted before his battle to remove his charges is resolved, citing Willis's desire to try him with the others and the prospects of a trial beginning next month. He presently has pending motions with two other courts seeking a similar pause, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
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Prosecutors told the 11th Circuit on Wednesday that the court should reject Meadows's renewed request to stall prosecution in the state pending a final outcome on his federal court removal bid, saying he hasn't shown his argument is likely to succeed on the merits.
Legal experts have said the fight over Meadows's removal bid is likely to reach the Supreme Court.