In what former U.S. Attorney Renato Mariotti characterized as a “bold move” by attorneys for Trump co-defendant Kenneth Chesebro in Georgia, Chesebro’s team has issued a demand for a speedy trial in the case, citing O.C.G.A. 17-7-170 (2010), which dictates that:
If the defendant is not tried when the demand for speedy trial is made or at the next succeeding regular court term thereafter, provided that at both court terms there were juries impaneled and qualified to try the defendant, the defendant shall be absolutely discharged and acquitted of the offense charged in the indictment or accusation.
Mariotti believes Chesebro’s team, led by Scott R. Grubman, may be betting Fulton County DA Fani Willis won’t have all her legal ducks in a row in a “matter of weeks” and that Chesebro’s side may be trying to catch her “off guard.”
Bold move by Ken Chesebro’s legal team.
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 23, 2023
They’re betting Willis is not ready to try this large, complicated case in a matter of weeks.
There’s a chance they’ll catch Willis off guard. There’s a greater chance his team isn’t ready either, and he just speeds up the inevitable. https://t.co/HStCJSTG3K
Whatever the reasoning, the move comes as a sharp break from the strategy being employed by former President Trump’s legal team, which has consistently sought the opposite of speedy trials, petitioning to delay any courtroom appearances — in one case requesting a trial be scheduled for 2026.
When Trump earlier sought to also delay the Florida-based sensitive documents trial until at least after the 2024 election, numerous commentators responded that his attorneys, in doing so, ignored the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, which for federal prosecutions, states:
“In any case involving a defendant charged with an offense, the appropriate judicial officer, at the earliest practicable time, shall, after consultation with the counsel for the defendant and the attorney for the Government, set the case for trial on a day certain, or list it for trial on a weekly or other short-term trial calendar at a place within the judicial district, so as to assure a speedy trial.”
NOTE: Trump’s situation is vastly different from those of his Georgia co-defendants in that he continues to claim that the prosecutions are instances of election interference — interfering with his current run for President. A speedy trial therefore has little appeal to Trump who, if he can win the Presidency, would presumably be able to crush the legal action against him.