{"id":2024332,"date":"2023-09-07T07:57:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T11:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-judges-ruling-for-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-for-fulton-county\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T08:01:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T12:01:34","slug":"georgia-judges-ruling-for-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-for-fulton-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-judges-ruling-for-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-for-fulton-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia judge&#8217;s ruling complicates RICO case in Fulton County for 2 defendants."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgeorgia-judges-ruling-for-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-for-fulton-county%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2024332&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>If a judge\u2019s \u200druling Wednesday is\u200d any indication, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-judges-ruling-for-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-for-fulton-county\/\" title=\"Georgia judge's ruling complicates RICO case in Fulton County for 2 defendants.\">cult-hero status bestowed<\/a> \u200cby the left upon Fulton County, Georgia, \u2063District Attorney Fani Willis \u2062might be even more fleeting \u2064than that granted to \u2063similar Trump-seeking legal missiles such as \u2064Robert Mueller or \u200bMichael Avenatti.<\/h2>\n<p>Last month, former President Donald\u200c Trump \u200band 18\u200b other individuals were indicted in Fulton\u200c County under the state\u2019s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act for challenging the results\u2062 of\u200d the\u2063 2020 election \u2063in Georgia.<\/p>\n<p>Not only was\u2063 it another indictment\u200d for MSNBC folks to gloat over, but \u200ca state charge makes things a bit more difficult for any Republican president politically, since the resident\u2063 of\u2063 the Oval Office can\u200c pardon only federal offenses. Plus, there were mug shots! Lots and \u200clots of\u200c mug shots!<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the popping \u2062of champagne corks and playing of Kool\u200b and the Gang\u2019s \u201cCelebration\u201d on repeat\u2062 might \u200cquickly come to a close\u200d once the realities of the complexities \u2063and problems in the sprawling case Willis is \u200bpursuing begin \u200dhitting home \u200d\u2014 and Wednesday\u2019s \u200bruling might have been the beginning \u200dof \u2062the end when\u2062 it comes to\u200c unadulterated merriment on\u2063 CNN.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>In the\u2062 ruling, The New York Times reported, \u2062Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County \u2064Superior Court\u200b decreed that\u200c two of\u200c the former\u2063 president\u2019s co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and \u200cSidney Powell, would\u2064 go to trial together \u2063on Oct. 23.<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The\u200d two had asked for separate trials \u2014 so, at least on that count, it\u2019s a loss. However, that part of the ruling, the Times noted, \u201cis contingent on\u2063 the\u2062 case\u2062 remaining in state court \u2014 a situation that\u2062 could change if other defendants succeed at moving the case into a federal courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not only that,\u2064 but it could significantly weaken Willis\u2019 case if any of the defendants are tried\u2063 separately from one another; Willis\u2019 indictment, \u2064as previously \u200bmentioned, is based \u2063on the state\u2019s RICO act. Having separate trials for individuals who were \u200b\u2014 by the state\u2019s account \u2014 \u2064acting together in a single criminal conspiracy would undermine the logic of using the \u2063law\u200d to\u2062 prosecute everyone as co-conspirators.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFani T. Willis, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/radical-cultural-change-coming-to-america\/\" title=\"Radical Cultural Change Coming to America?\">district attorney<\/a> of Fulton \u2063County, is still holding\u2062 out\u2063 hope that all 19 defendants in \u200cthe racketeering\u200c case can be tried together,\u201d the\u2064 Times reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of her prosecutors said during a hearing\u200b on Wednesday that the state would take approximately four months to present its case, calling roughly 150 \u2062witnesses. \u200bThat estimate does not include the time it would take to pick the jury.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut\u2062 during the hearing, Judge McAfee said he remained \u2064\u2018very \u2062skeptical\u2019 that a single trial for all\u200d 19 defendants could \u2064work.\u200b For one \u2064thing, some of the accused, including\u200d Ms. Powell and Mr. Chesebro, have invoked\u2062 their right to a speedy trial while\u2062 others have not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The one\u200d who definitely isn\u2019t\u200c invoking his\u2062 right to a speedy trial \u2014 and the only one who anyone really cares about, let\u2019s face it \u2014 is campaigning for president.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo far, \u2063since his indictment in the Georgia case, Mr. Trump\u2019s\u2064 only request has been to sever \u2062his case \u2064from\u2063 those of his co-defendants who \u200care seeking a speedy trial,\u201d the Times noted.<\/p>\n<p>McAfee \u200cdid stipulate that though Chesebro and \u2063Powell \u2014 lawyers associated with Trump \u2014 are alleged \u2064to have played very different roles in the RICO scheme, they could be tried together.<\/p>\n<p>Chesebro is charged for his alleged role \u200bin creating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-votes-to-hold-mark-meadows-in-criminal-contempt-after-defying-subpoena-from-jan-6-select-committee\/\" title=\"House Votes To Hold Mark Meadows In Criminal Contempt After Defying Subpoena From Jan. 6 Select Committee\">alternate slates<\/a>\u2062 of electors in states \u2014 such as Georgia \u2014 where the Trump campaign was \u200bchallenging the results. Powell,\u200b meanwhile, is charged with what \u2063prosecutors say is a data breach \u200dat\u200c an\u2064 elections office in Georgia\u2019s Coffee County.<\/p>\n<p>Chesebro\u2019s lawyers said in court filings\u200b that the allegations were \u201cakin to oil and water; \u2063wholly separate \u200dand impossible to mix\u201d into \u200bone conspiracy, and that a \u2062jury would\u2063 potentially hear months of testimony regarding a\u2062 data breach \u2063that Chesebro\u200c isn\u2019t accused of even knowing about.<\/p>\n<p>Powell\u2019s lawyers made similar allegations in their filings,\u200d saying their client\u2019s defense was \u201cgoing to get washed away\u201d\u200d in discussions\u200c about the\u200b alternate slates of electors.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors alleged, however, that everything was all connected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe conspiracy evolved: One thing didn\u2019t\u200c work,\u200b so we move on to the next thing,\u201d said Will Wooten, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-deputy-said-he-was-shot-in-line-of-duty-he-shot-himself\/\" title=\"California Deputy Said He Was Shot In Line Of Duty. He Shot Himself.\">deputy district attorney<\/a>. \u201cThat thing didn\u2019t\u200d work, \u2063so we move on to\u2063 the next thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJudge McAfee, in the end, decided that Mr. Chesebro and Ms. Powell would get a fair trial if \u2064tried \u200ctogether. He also noted that \u2062it would save time and \u200cmoney to combine them,\u201d the Times said.<\/p>\n<p>Notice, however, the lack of confirmation that these acts were part of some \u2064grand\u2064 notecard-yarn-and-thumbtack \u200dconspiracy.<\/p>\n<p>Granted, it\u2019s not a \u2063judge\u2019s place to decide upon that.<\/p>\n<p>However, in spite of\u200b the promiscuous use of state and \u2063federal RICO charges in matters that \u200dreach far beyond \u200ctheir original intent \u2014 reining in\u2063 mobsters, something prosecutors have all \u2062but forgotten about\u2064 when reaching for the statutes \u2014 Wednesday\u2019s ruling\u200b and the arguments in the filings reveal where this case could be, in \u200da \u2063reversal of the old banking axiom, too big \u200dto succeed.<\/p>\n<p>Willis\u2019 charges\u200d bring together \u2062various people who\u2063 thought\u200b there was voter fraud in Georgia \u200dduring the 2020 election sufficient enough to alter the results. Whether this is true is one thing, and whether it\u2019s a crime to believe it \u200dis another \u2014 and whether people who challenged the results\u2063 are all part of a RICO \u200dviolation is a completely different, and significantly more \u2063massive, \u2064thing.<\/p>\n<p>For this to work as Willis wants\u2062 it to, a whole lot of things have to \u200bgo exactly as \u2064she\u2019s \u2062planned.<\/p>\n<p>Defendants can\u2019t get their cases moved to federal court, which increases the potential for the Supreme\u2062 Court to get involved. Furthermore, the \u2064more separate trials there\u200b are, the more problematic the idea of a grand conspiracy \u2062befitting a RICO conviction \u200dbecomes. It\u2019s difficult to fit all\u200d the pieces together when all the pieces are being tried \u200cbefore separate juries\u200d \u2014 and some of\u200b those pieces (gasp!) might even get \u200dacquitted.<\/p>\n<p>Amazing how the court system works, right?<\/p>\n<p>In \u2064other words, Wednesday wasn\u2019t\u2064 a good day\u2064 for Fani Willis.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps she should pencil \u2062in \u2063a date \u200cto sit down with Robert Mueller so the two can\u200d grab a beer and talk about how to navigate life after the glow \u200bof being\u2063 the\u200d media\u2019s latest\u2063 Trump-tackling hero\u2062 fades.<\/p>\n<p>As for advice \u2062over\u2062 a drink with Mr. \u2063Avenatti, that appointment \u200cmight \u200bhave to, um, \u2064be put off for a while.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2064 post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/georgia-judges-ruling-2-defendants-will-make-rico-case-difficult-fulton-county\/\">Georgia Judge&#8217;s Ruling for 2 Defendants Will Make RICO Case Difficult for Fulton County<\/a> appeared\u2063 first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The \u2064Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A judge&#8217;s recent ruling suggests that Fulton County&#8217;s District Attorney Fani Willis, hailed as a cult-hero by the left, may lose her status as quickly as Robert Mueller or Michael Avenatti. Last month, Donald Trump and 18 others faced indictments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":663,"featured_media":2024333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}