Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis proposed a trial start date of March 2024 after the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Willis requested a pretrial conference on Feb. 20, 2024, and a trial start date of March 4, 2024, one day before Super Tuesday, which is when the greatest number of states hold presidential primary elections or caucuses. Trump is the front-runner for the GOP primary race.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S ONE BIG ADVANTAGE AS CRIMINAL CHARGES PILE UP
A grand jury in Fulton County indicted Trump late Monday night on 13 charges, including violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, as part of a 19-person, 41-count indictment. The indictment accuses the defendants of unlawfully conspiring to conduct and participate in a “criminal enterprise.”
Other notable names indicted alongside Trump are former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys John Eastman and Rudy Giuliani.
Willis has asked for the arraignments to begin the week of Sept. 5. The district attorney said the former president and his allies have until noon on Aug. 25 to report to authorities in Fulton County.
However, Meadows became the first defendant on Tuesday to request relocating his case to federal court in Atlanta, arguing that his alleged criminal conduct took place during his tenure as chief of staff.
Fifteen states are holding their primaries on Super Tuesday: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. American Samoa is holding a caucus on that day, as well.
Trump holds a significant lead over the other GOP candidates, with a RealClearPolitics average of 54.8%. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and Vivek Ramaswamy are trailing behind in second and third place, respectively, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC).
The former president has called Willis “a radical Democrat” and her case “bogus,” arguing that the indictment was “politically inspired” and brought to interfere with Trump’s lead in the GOP primary race.
Trump is facing three other criminal cases out of New York, Florida, and Washington, D.C. The latter two stem from special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigations, one into Trump’s handling of classified documents and another into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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Willis said in the motion to Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee that her proposed deadlines “do not conflict” with Trump’s other criminal and civil cases. The trial dates for his cases in New York and Florida are March 24, 2024, and May 20, 2024, respectively.
Smith has proposed jury selection for December and the trial start date in early January 2024 for Trump’s Jan. 6 case.
