Fulton County DA Fani Willis was dealt a bit of a blow this week in court.
Judge Scott McAfee has ruled that she will not be able to prosecute all 19 defendants in her case at the same time beginning October 23, reported The Hill.
More importantly, McAfee leaned against Trump being part of the group of 19, which will significantly hurt Willis' case.
The Issues
In the case, numerous defendants have filed to have their cases severed from the larger group.
Former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has filed to have his case moved to federal court, which has not fully played out yet, so he is entitled to have his appeal heard before being tried.
Donald Trump has waived his right to a speedy trial and is looking for an extension, as well as having the case move to federal court. The former due to the sheer volume of evidence and the lengthy indictment against him.
Willis has argued that allowing the defendants to sever their cases would result in "multiple lengthy trials would create an enormous strain" on the court.
McAfee ruled, "The Court joins the skepticism expressed by several federal courts that denying severance always ensures efficiency, especially in 'mega trials' such as this," reports the New York Post.
He also called it "a procedural and logistical inevitability" that some of the cases would be severed.
The request by Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell to have their trial date start on October 23 has been approved.
McAfee stated, "Defendants Chesebro and Powell will join each other at trial, however, the other 17 defendants are severed from these two. Additional severances may follow."
The judge also set a deadline of December 1, 2023, for Trump's attorneys, so we would not expect his trial to start until next year at some point, and I would have to think that McAfee will take Trump's other court dates into consideration when setting this date.
