Pre-Trial Hearing Calendar Fills Out Ahead of Chesebro-Powell Trial in Georgia

ATLANTA – Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee scheduled three hearings for Tuesday and Wednesday in written orders filed Friday as the first of the Georgia election-racketeering trials looms two weeks away.

Two of those hearings pertain to motions in the case against pro-Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell. The duo have pleaded not guilty to felony charges and requested a speedy trial under Georgia law and jury selection is set for Oct. 20. 

Those hearings, set for Tuesday and Wednesday starting at 1:30 p.m., will address pending motions to dismiss charges against the defendants. Chesebro is arguing he has First Amendment protections from prosecution and is also trying to dismiss the racketeering charge against him in motions Powell also adopted. Powell has also filed her own motions to dismiss the case against her. 

So far, previous attempts to dismiss the indictment or charges against defendants have failed. Most recently Friday, McAfee likened one such motion to a dead parrot in a nod to the iconic Monty Python sketch.  

Powell and Chesebro are the first defendants to go to trial in the massive Fulton County election-racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 17 others. One co-defendant, Scott Hall, entered a guilty plea bargain with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office last week. 

A trial date for the 16 remaining co-defendants has yet to be set, but a scheduling order from McAfee Friday morning suggests he wants to start figuring out a trial calendar for them too. 

The order sets a case management hearing on Tuesday at 11 a.m. for co-defendants Michael Roman and Ray Smith III. 

Roman, Trump’s 2020 election day director previously waived his speedy trial rights for the ongoing court term. The next term begins the first Monday of November. Smith, a former Trump campaign attorney has not waived his speedy trial rights. Both have pleaded not guilty.