A Fulton County judge has just dealt a serious blow to District Attorney Fani Willis’ case against former President Donald Trump and 18 other co-defendants. On Thursday, September 14, Judge Scott McAfee granted motions to separate Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell’s cases from that of the other co-defendants.
This ruling is a setback for DA Willis who had wanted to try all 19 defendants together.
Court observers had previously noted that it would be difficult for DA Willis to handle such an ambitious case in the limited amount of time available.
MSNBC host Ali Velshi asked network legal analyst Glenn Kirshner why separating the cases was advantageous for co-defendants.
Kirschner explained that when multiple defendants are tried together, it can be beneficial for some defendants if one or more are removed from the joint trial so they can argue what is known as “the empty chair defense” – i.e., the person who should have been in the defendant’s chair is not present due to their case being separated out.
By separating out individual cases, there may be less evidence presented against certain individuals which could help them during sentencing or at least reduce their sentence should they be found guilty of any charges brought against them.
Despite this setback for DA Willis, President Trump has maintained his innocence on charges that he attempted to subvert Georgia’s 2020 election results by trying to influence electors’ votes.
House Republicans have begun talks regarding an investigation into DA Willis while local lawmakers in Georgia have taken steps towards impeaching her as well.
Furthermore, President Trump has promised to raise millions of dollars towards assisting his fellow co-defendants with legal costs associated with their trials in October and beyond.
