Former Trump lawyers denied separate trials for Georgia racketeering case

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee denied two co-defendants separate trials during a Wednesday hearing on a 2020 election conspiracy case involving former President Donald Trump. McAfee ruled that former Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell will be tried together on the previously scheduled trial date of Oct. 23. It remains undecided whether any of the other 17 defendants will be included in the October trial. All 19 defendants indicted have pleaded not guilty, including former President Donald Trump.

Why did Chesebro and Powell want separate trials? Both Chesebro and Powell said they never met or contacted each other. Both defendants filed separate motions for speedy trials, guaranteed to all Americans in the Constitution. Chesebro and Powell’s attorneys argued that because their clients’ charges were distinctly separate, each would have to sit through days of evidence and argument that did not pertain to themselves. Their attorneys also argued that testimony about other people’s charges could impede Chesebro and Powell’s right to speedy trials. 

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in WORLD Magazine on the charges brought by Fulton County against the 19 defendants.