By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
The Georgia Court of Appeals has scheduled a hearing for December to address the appeal regarding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump for alleged election interference. The delay means that the lower court proceedings against Trump will not resume before the November general election, where he is expected to be the Republican nominee.
Trump has already been convicted of 34 felonies in New York, and a judge found him guilty of committing massive business fraud, which resulted in a nearly $500 million judgment. Additionally, a civil jury found the twice-impeached former president responsible for sexually assaulting a woman, whom they awarded a $90 million judgment for her suffering.
The court in Atlanta announced that it would hear oral arguments on December 5 in the Willis case. Trump and his co-defendants had requested the hearing to challenge a lower court ruling that allowed Willis to continue prosecuting the case. A three-judge panel— Trenton Brown, Todd Markle, and Benjamin Land—will oversee the appeal, with a decision anticipated by mid-March. The losing party may then seek a further appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The case stems from an August 2022 indictment by a Fulton County grand jury, which charged Trump and 18 others with attempting to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results illegally. While four defendants have reached plea deals, Trump and the remaining defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The Georgia case is one of several legal battles Trump is currently facing. Recently, a federal judge in Florida, appointed by Trump and an avowed MAGA supporter, dismissed a case concerning the bombastic former president’s handling of classified documents, a decision that the Department of Justice plans to appeal. In New York, Trump’s sentencing for his conviction in the hush money trial has been postponed following a Supreme Court ruling granting former presidents’ broad immunity. The ruling is also expected to delay a federal case in Washington, where Trump is accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election results.
In March, Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that no conflict of interest warranted Willis’s removal but granted the defendant’s request to appeal his decision. McAfee mandated that Willis’ ex-boyfriend Nathan Wade’s resignation.
