He wants to distinguish his case from those of the accused who have asked for a quick trial.
Former President Donald Trump has filed a move to separate his case from other defendants who have asked for a quick trial, hours after entering a not guilty plea in the Georgia election meddling case.
The action was taken after a court last week scheduled co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro’s trial for Oct. 23. Chesebro had asked for a speedy trial, which prompted Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wiilis to restate her wish to try all 19 defendants in the case concurrently.
Trump’s lawyer Steve Sadow stated in the petition on Thursday that he “will not have sufficient time to prepare” for the lawsuit by Oct. 23.
“Respectfully, requiring less than two months preparation time to defend a 98-page indictment, charging 19 defendants, with 41 various charges including a RICO conspiracy charges with 161 Overt Acts … would violate President Trump’s federal and state constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law,” the filing said.
Defendant Sidney Powell has also filed for a speedy trail, with her attorneys saying in a filing Wednesday that Powell has “no substantive connection with any other defendant regarding the charges in the Indictment.”
Trump forfeited his right to appear at his arraignment earlier on Thursday and filed a not guilty plea in the case.
Judge Scott McAfee of the Fulton County Superior Court set the date of September 6 for the arraignment of all 19 defendants and the entry of pleas in the case.
In order to avoid appearing at their scheduled arraignment, a number of additional defendants, including Powell, Trevian Kutti, and Ray Smith III, have also entered not guilty pleas. On Thursday, Jenna Ellis also did so.
In a broad racketeering indictment filed earlier this month, the former president and the other 18 defendants were charged with trying to rig the Georgia 2020 presidential election.
Trump has claimed that the inquiry is politically motivated and that his actions were not unlawful.
In a similar incident on Thursday, Mark Meadows, a former Trump chief of staff, and the Fulton County district attorney’s office both responded to a federal judge’s request for additional information about Meadows’ attempt to transfer his case from state court to federal court.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ordered each party to respond on whether Meadows would be eligible for removal to federal court if only some of the acts charged in the indictment were performed under the color of his office after preside over a hearing on the topic earlier this week.
In its response on Thursday, the district attorney’s office stated that “the answer to this question is no,” contending that Meadows is not being tried for his particular actions but rather because he allegedly “knowingly and willfully entered into an agreement to violate Georgia’s RICO [racketeering] law.”
Meadows, on the other hand, responded to the judge’s query with “the answer is yes” in his most recent petition, claiming that removal is necessary if “any part” of his duties are related to his position.
The document indicates that the investigation will be concluded “if the court finds that any charged conduct relates to Mr. Meadow’s official duties.”
