Georgia judge allows defendants in alleged RICO case to be tried separately

On Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro permission to go to trial earlier than the other co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case brought against Donald Trump and 18 of his associates by District Attorney Fani Willis.

The pair of lawyers for the former president are now scheduled to appear in court for a joint trial beginning October 23.
 

"Defendants Chesebro and Powell will join each other at trial, however, the other 17 defendants are severed from these two," McAfee wrote in his decision. "Additional severances may follow. All pretrial deadlines will proceed as scheduled without a stay of proceedings."

As NBC News reports, McAfee explained that the sheer number of defendants in the case warranted a split, citing the size of the venue.

“The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team," he said.

As of Thursday, Powell and Chesebro were the only defendants who had requested a speedy trial, however, the others have until September 29 to file the relevant paperwork to invoke such a measure. McAfee warned that it may be "required" to divide the remaining 17 into smaller groups.

The pair had originally asked to have their cases separated from one another, citing the fact that they were allegedly involved in different schemes, but McAfee denied that request.

Trump and his associates were hit with a slew of charges, including violation of the Georgia RICO Act, solicitation of violation of oath by public officer, false statements and writings, impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents, conspiracy to commit filing false documents, criminal attempt to commit influencing witnesses, influencing witnesses, conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, conspiracy to defraud the state, and perjury.