Staff Reports
The first defendant in the Georgia case alleging former President Donald Trump and others of illegally overturning the 2020 election is going to be tried. Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, indicted more than two months ago, will be the first of 19 defendants to stand trial. Two co-defendants, including Sidney Powell, have pled guilty to lesser crimes. If Chesebro does not plead guilty, the trial will examine Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team's evidence.
If Chesebro and the other defendants colluded to sway the election outcome, Trump's impact will be considerable during the trial, even though he won't be there. The defense and prosecution will undoubtedly question potential jurors about Trump, politics, and bogus election fraud charges.
Chesebro and Sidney Powell requested a swift trial, thus they were initially tried together. Powell recently admitted to six misdemeanors after negotiating with prosecutors. As part of this arrangement, she must testify truthfully in future case trials.
All defendants, including Chesebro, are accused of breaking Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by conspiring to keep Trump in power after his electoral loss. Chesebro is accused of planning to have 16 Georgia Republicans falsely declare Trump as the winner. He wrote memoranda explaining this strategy and recommended ways to delay Joe Biden's electoral vote certification on January 6, 2021.
Jury selection will begin in the first trial in the Georgia election case against Trump and others https://t.co/KR4adnNdfw
— Tom Williams (@tommyboy0690) October 20, 2023
The memoranda and emails were written by Chesebro, but his defense claims Georgia and federal law justified them. He was allegedly offering legal information and opinions for the Trump campaign. The judge denied their request to exclude Chesebro's notes and emails from the trial.
The jury selection procedure begins with 450 prospective jurors completing a questionnaire. Groups will then be summoned for individual questions. The prosecution and defense can question each juror's suitability. The trial is expected to span four months and contain over 150 witnesses, therefore Judge Scott McAfee wants to choose and swear in the jury by November to satisfy the statutory timetable for a speedy trial.
To learn more about Chesebro and the other defendants and their potential effects on former President Trump, observers are anxiously anticipating the trial. The lawsuit fuels heated arguments about the 2020 election and the alleged conspiracy to overturn it.
