Trial Starts for Defendant Accused in Georgia Election Scheme Involving Trump
Jury selection is set to begin on Friday for the first defendant to go to trial in the Georgia case accusing former President Donald Trump and others of illegally scheming to overturn the 2020 election in the state. Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who was indicted just over two months ago along with Trump and 17 others, will face trial if he does not take a plea deal before proceedings start. This trial will provide an extensive look at the evidence that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team have gathered against Chesebro and the other defendants.
The trial will undoubtedly be dominated by discussions surrounding Trump, despite the fact that he’s not expected to be present. The indictment alleges that Chesebro and the other defendants refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. Therefore, during jury selection, both the defense and prosecution will likely delve into potential jurors’ opinions on Trump, their political leanings, and their beliefs about election fraud claims.
Originally, Chesebro was set to be tried alongside Sidney Powell, but Powell agreed to a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to six misdemeanor counts. As part of the agreement, she will need to testify truthfully if called as a witness in future trials related to the case. Chesebro will now stand trial alone.
According to the indictment, all defendants, including Chesebro, are accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) by participating in a wide-ranging scheme aiming to keep Trump in power despite losing the election. Specifically, Chesebro is alleged to have coordinated and executed a plan to have 16 Georgia Republicans sign a certificate falsely stating that Trump was the winner and declaring themselves as the state’s duly elected and qualified electors. He wrote memos outlining this plan and even provided instructions for how Trump elector nominees in swing states could cast votes for Trump.
Chesebro’s defense team does not dispute that he drafted the relevant legal memos and emails. However, they argue that his actions were justified under Georgia and federal law. They assert that Chesebro, a constitutional law expert, was conducting research to support a legal opinion he provided to the Trump campaign. His lawyers attempted to prevent prosecutors from using his memos and emails during the trial, claiming attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, but the judge rejected their arguments.
The jury selection process will involve 450 prospective jurors filling out a comprehensive questionnaire, which will then be scanned and shared with the lawyers. On Monday, the prospective jurors will be individually questioned, and both the judge and attorneys will assess if any hardships would prevent them from serving on the jury. The prosecution and defense will have one hour per group of 14 prospective jurors to ask their own questions. To ensure an adequate pool of potential jurors, the judge has requested an additional 450 people to fill out questionnaires.
According to prosecutors, since this case falls under the RICO law, they intend to prove the entire alleged conspiracy and call over 150 witnesses, estimating a trial length of four months. The judge has informed prospective jurors that the trial could take up to five months.
As this highly anticipated trial commences, it will shed light on the evidence against Chesebro and the other defendants accused of being part of the scheme to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. With Trump’s presence looming large over the proceedings, the outcome of this trial will be closely watched by both supporters and critics of the former president.
