The judge in Fulton County, Georgia, overseeing that state’s sprawling 2020 election interference racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 co-defendants, decided Thursday that all proceedings in his courtroom related to the case will be suspended. They will broadcast live and will be allowed to be televised.
The ruling, however, would be subject to change and would not apply to any part of the case moved to federal court, according to CNN.
At a court hearing Thursday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who was assigned the case, said would make all hearings and possible trials available for streaming on the Fulton County Courthouse YouTube channel, in accordance with Georgia state court policy that leans toward cameras access to proceedings.
McAfee also said that will allow the media to have “common” cameras, where groups of news organizations combine their resources and share access to cameras, in the courtroom.
Neither defense attorneys nor prosecutors appeared in court Thursday to object to the media’s request for cameras.
Thursday, McAfee also ruled to allow members of the media to use cell phones and electronic computers in the courtroom for unregistered purposes.like taking notes.
McAfee’s ruling is limited to the state’s Fulton County case.
McAfee is the judge in charge of the case against Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants for the alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 elections in that state.
On Thursday, Trump’s legal team asked to separate the former president from the rest of the co-defendants and for him to be tried independently, apart from the trial against other co-defendants who requested a quick trial, after last Tuesday the prosecutor in charge of the case, Fani Willis, asked that they all be tried at the same time.
The court has not yet decided whether or not to approve Willis’s proposal, which would mean that the trial will begin on October 23, because Judge McAfee has already decided that that will be the start date of the process against one of the defendants, the lawyer Kenneth Chesebro.
In the opinion of Trump’s lawyers, this date does not give the former president enough time to prepare his defense.
“Requiring less than two months of preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment, with 19 defendants, with 41 various charges, including one of RICO (act) conspiracy… would violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due legal process,” notes the document published by The Hill newspaper.
Trump today pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges against him in Georgia for attempting to manipulate the results of the 2020 elections in that state, in which he lost by a narrow margin to Democrat and current president Joe Biden.
The former president also “freely and voluntarily” waived his right to be present at a formal arraignment in court, set for next September 6.
Trump, who is running for the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential elections, has already pleaded not guilty in the other three criminal proceedings in which he is accused in Washington, Florida and New York.
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Source: La Opinion
