Trump Gets Fantastic News From Georgia Court - Fani's Lusk Runs Out

Former President Donald Trump received favorable news in his criminal case in Fulton County, Georgia.

Elie Honig, CNN’s Senior Legal Analyst and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, indicated that the case against Trump might never go to trial now that the Georgia appellate court has paused the proceedings.

“It’s over. Let’s be realistic. It’s not happening before the 2024 election. It’s not happening in 2024. It’s maybe not happening at all,” he said. “Now, look, the appeals court, we can never predict what they’re going to do. But there’s some things we know for sure. Number one, they didn’t have to take this case, the appeal, and they chose to. The other thing is they didn’t have to pause the district court.”

“In fact, the trial court judge, when he issued his ruling, allowing Donald Trump, and the others, to ask the appeals court to take the case, the trial court judge specified, while you all are doing that, I am going to continue holding proceedings in this trial court,” he said. “And now, today, just a couple hours ago, the appeals court said no, no, no, pause that, too. So, that tells me that they are taking this appeal very seriously. And if Trump and the defendants prevail in this appeal, this case is essentially toast.”

If the case never reaches trial, those who pleaded guilty might retract their pleas, he suggested.

“There is a separate issue that Trump and the other defendants are going to raise that I think is a bigger deal, which is Fani Willis’ inappropriate comments about the case outside of court,” the analyst stated.

“Judge McAfee found those comments to be, quote, ‘legally improper,’ and then he did nothing about it. And so, the defense is going to argue to the Court of Appeals, if the prosecutor makes, quote, ‘legally improper’ statements that impair the constitutional rights of the defendant, there needs to be a remedy for that,” he said.

Three appeals court judges, appointed by Republican governors, will determine whether District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from Fulton County’s election interference lawsuit against Trump.

The Georgia Court of Appeals officially accepted the case on Monday, and the designations followed. October 4th was the preliminary date set for oral arguments.

A computer-generated random selection process assigned judges Todd Markle, Trenton Brown, and Benjamin Land to hear what is expected to be the court’s most high-profile appeal.

The judges chosen to hear the appeal are Todd Markle, Trenton Brown, and Benjamin Land.

Judge Brown replaced Judge Yvette Miller on the panel after she recused herself from the case.

Former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes appointed Yvette Miller, the first black woman to serve on the appeals court. It is unclear why Miller stepped aside, but she is retiring at the end of the year.

As noted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the three judges who will hear the case all served as trial judges before being appointed to the appellate court:

• Markle, appointed to the court by Gov. Nathan Deal in 2018, is a former Fulton County Superior Court judge.
• Land, appointed to the bench two years ago by Gov. Brian Kemp, is a former Superior Court judge for the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit in West Georgia.
• Brown, appointed by Deal in 2018, served as a Superior Court judge for the eight-county Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit in central Georgia.

Though most cases heard by the court are settled without oral arguments, the three-judge panel is expected to hear arguments on this appeal.

Ashleigh Merchant, a Marietta attorney, has announced that she will request the court to hear oral arguments on behalf of Mike Roman, one of Trump’s 14 remaining co-defendants in the racketeering case. Merchant filed in January as the first defense lawyer to move for Willis’ disqualification in the case.