FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could start trying some of the 19 people indicted in Georgia’s election interference investigation as early as October 2023.
Willis filed a motion Thursday to move up the date of the state’s election interference trial to later this year.
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Last week, Willis’ office handed a 98-page indictment naming 19 co-defendants including former President Donald Trump. Willis’ office has accused the subjects of the indictment of conspiring to change the 2020 election results in Georgia to make Trump the winner in the state.
Willis initially announced she would try the case in March of 2024. In the new motion, Willis requests to set the trial date for October 23, 2023.
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In the new motion, Willis cites a motion filed by co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro to demand a speedy trial. Chesebro filed that motion on Wednesday.
“Without waiting on any objection as to the sufficiency of Defendant’s Kenneth John Chesebro’s filing, the State request that this Court specially set the trial in this case to commence on October 23, 2023, which falls within the term of the next succeeding regular court term after the July-August 2023 term,” the motion read.
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The motion was signed by Willis.
A judge has signed a motion allowing Chesebro’s portion of the trial to start Oct. 23 but said that date does not apply to his co-defendants.
Later Thursday, Trump’s attorney filed a counter-motion to stop the trial from being moved up.
The new filing says the former president will also file a motion to sever his case from Kenneth Chesebro’s, which led to the more aggressive timeline in the first place. Chesebro filed a motion to demand a speedy trial.
Trump has requested a scheduling conference for pretrial scheduling.
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