Two of the 19 people charged with plotting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results are scheduled to go on trial next month, but former President Donald Trump says he doesn’t want to join them because he would Waiver of your right to be heard.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said she intends to prosecute Trump and his 18 co-defendants at the same time in late October.
Trump first filed a speedy trial waiver, Willis’s office later filed a summary motion for a joint trial due to efficiency and fairness concerns. She says multiple trials would “create enormous pressure” on the courts and her office and would benefit defendants who wait.
Several other defendants filed similar waivers of their speedy trial rights on Wednesday, some of them saying they would not be ready until next month.
The trial of Trump’s two former lawyers, Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, is set to begin on October 23 because they requested an expedited trial.
There is no set date yet for the remaining trials, but under Georgia law, a defendant who requests an expedited trial is entitled to have it begin in the same or next two-month court term. Fulton County court terms begin on the first Monday of January, March, May, July, September and November.
Meanwhile, the judge in Trump’s classified documents case out of Florida is imposing limits on how and where the former president can talk about classified evidence in the case.
Judge Aileen Canon issued an order On Wednesday, a request by the prosecution to set rules on how evidence should be handled and discussed was approved.
This includes the appointment of a classified information officer who will oversee Trump’s lawyer’s access to documents.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to charges of mishandling classified records after leaving the White House and working with two staffers to interfere with government efforts to recover the documents.