ATLANTA — The Georgia case against former President Donald Trump could take a major step forward Tuesday as the selection process is scheduled to begin for the grand jury which could consider charges against him and others.
It shouldn’t be a long, drawn-out process to pick the grand jury made up of 23 grand jurors and three alternates.
They won’t be deciding guilt or innocence, only if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has enough evidence to move her election interference case forward and just who should face indictment.
[TIMELINE: Fulton County grand jury investigation into potential interference in Georgia elections]
“A grand jury evaluates basically, the facts of the case and decides whether or not the district attorney’s office has probable cause to indict an individual,” defense attorney Jessica Cino said.
In this case, that individual could be former President Donald Trump. Trump’s been the focus of Willis’ election interference investigation since he made the now infamous call to Georgia’s Secretary of State, saying, “All I want to find is 11,780 votes.”
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But that investigation has expanded exponentially to include the false GOP electors, state senate subcommittee testimony, and even an alleged break-in at a South Georgia elections office.
Willis told Channel 2 Action News months ago that her case would go where the evidence led it.
“If we should find that there was criminal interference in the election, then we are hopeful that the grand jury will see it appropriate to recommend indictment,” she said at the time.
Cino told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that a grand jury will only decide if there’s probable cause to move the case forward.
“They’re deciding whether or not this case is going to pass go and move into what we would call the trial phase. They don’t decide guilt. They don’t decide if this person is getting acquitted. Probable cause is a very low threshold,” Cino said.
Jury selection for the grand jury is scheduled to start Tuesday morning.
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