Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was arraigned on federal charges related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, faces reporters as he departs Washington at Reagan Washington National Airport in nearby Arlington, Virginia, U.S., August 3, 2023.
Pool | Via Reuters
Former President Donald Trump will not head to trial next month alongside two of his co-defendants whose cases in the sweeping Georgia election interference case were severed by a judge Thursday.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted motions from Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell to sever their criminal cases from the 17 other co-defendants who have been indicted in Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe.
But McAfee declined an effort by Chesebro and Powell to sever their cases from each other, meaning they are both set to head to the same trial on Oct. 23.
The ruling is a blow to Georgia prosecutors who wanted to keep all 19 co-defendants together in the case. McAfee wrote in his order that severing Chesebro and Powell was “simply a procedural and logistical inevitability.”
“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,” McAfee wrote.
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