Georgia Judge's Ruling for 2 Defendants Will Make RICO Case Difficult for Fulton County
If a judge’s ruling Wednesday is any indication, the cult-hero status bestowed by the left upon Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis might be even more fleeting than that granted to similar Trump-seeking legal missiles such as Robert Mueller or Michael Avenatti.
Last month, former President Donald Trump and 18 other individuals were indicted in Fulton County under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for challenging the results of the 2020 election in Georgia.
Not only was it another indictment for MSNBC folks to gloat over, but a state charge makes things a bit more difficult for any Republican president politically, since the resident of the Oval Office can pardon only federal offenses. Plus, there were mug shots! Lots and lots of mug shots!
Unfortunately, the popping of champagne corks and playing of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration” on repeat might quickly come to a close once the realities of the complexities and problems in the sprawling case Willis is pursuing begin hitting home — and Wednesday’s ruling might have been the beginning of the end when it comes to unadulterated merriment on CNN.
In the ruling, The New York Times reported, Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court decreed that two of the former president’s co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, would go to trial together on Oct. 23.
The two had asked for separate trials — so, at least on that count, it’s a loss. However, that part of the ruling, the Times noted, “is contingent on the case remaining in state court — a situation that could change if other defendants succeed at moving the case into a federal courtroom.”
Not only that, but it could significantly weaken Willis’ case if any of the defendants are tried separately from one another; Willis’ indictment, as previously mentioned, is based on the state’s RICO act. Having separate trials for individuals who were — by the state’s account — acting together in a single criminal conspiracy would undermine the logic of using the law to prosecute everyone as co-conspirators.
“Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, is still holding out hope that all 19 defendants in the racketeering case can be tried together,” the Times reported.
“One of her prosecutors said during a hearing on Wednesday that the state would take approximately four months to present its case, calling roughly 150 witnesses. That estimate does not include the time it would take to pick the jury.
“But during the hearing, Judge McAfee said he remained ‘very skeptical’ that a single trial for all 19 defendants could work. For one thing, some of the accused, including Ms. Powell and Mr. Chesebro, have invoked their right to a speedy trial while others have not.”
The one who definitely isn’t invoking his right to a speedy trial — and the only one who anyone really cares about, let’s face it — is campaigning for president.
“So far, since his indictment in the Georgia case, Mr. Trump’s only request has been to sever his case from those of his co-defendants who are seeking a speedy trial,” the Times noted.
McAfee did stipulate that though Chesebro and Powell — lawyers associated with Trump — are alleged to have played very different roles in the RICO scheme, they could be tried together.
Chesebro is charged for his alleged role in creating alternate slates of electors in states — such as Georgia — where the Trump campaign was challenging the results. Powell, meanwhile, is charged with what prosecutors say is a data breach at an elections office in Georgia’s Coffee County.
Chesebro’s lawyers said in court filings that the allegations were “akin to oil and water; wholly separate and impossible to mix” into one conspiracy, and that a jury would potentially hear months of testimony regarding a data breach that Chesebro isn’t accused of even knowing about.
Powell’s lawyers made similar allegations in their filings, saying their client’s defense was “going to get washed away” in discussions about the alternate slates of electors.
Prosecutors alleged, however, that everything was all connected.
“The conspiracy evolved: One thing didn’t work, so we move on to the next thing,” said Will Wooten, a deputy district attorney. “That thing didn’t work, so we move on to the next thing.”
“Judge McAfee, in the end, decided that Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell would get a fair trial if tried together. He also noted that it would save time and money to combine them,” the Times said.
Notice, however, the lack of confirmation that these acts were part of some grand notecard-yarn-and-thumbtack conspiracy.
Granted, it’s not a judge’s place to decide upon that.
However, in spite of the promiscuous use of state and federal RICO charges in matters that reach far beyond their original intent — reining in mobsters, something prosecutors have all but forgotten about when reaching for the statutes — Wednesday’s ruling and the arguments in the filings reveal where this case could be, in a reversal of the old banking axiom, too big to succeed.
Willis’ charges bring together various people who thought there was voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 election sufficient enough to alter the results. Whether this is true is one thing, and whether it’s a crime to believe it is another — and whether people who challenged the results are all part of a RICO violation is a completely different, and significantly more massive, thing.
For this to work as Willis wants it to, a whole lot of things have to go exactly as she’s planned.
Defendants can’t get their cases moved to federal court, which increases the potential for the Supreme Court to get involved. Furthermore, the more separate trials there are, the more problematic the idea of a grand conspiracy befitting a RICO conviction becomes. It’s difficult to fit all the pieces together when all the pieces are being tried before separate juries — and some of those pieces (gasp!) might even get acquitted.
Amazing how the court system works, right?
In other words, Wednesday wasn’t a good day for Fani Willis.
Perhaps she should pencil in a date to sit down with Robert Mueller so the two can grab a beer and talk about how to navigate life after the glow of being the media’s latest Trump-tackling hero fades.
As for advice over a drink with Mr. Avenatti, that appointment might have to, um, be put off for a while.
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