'Not a chance': Experts weigh likelihood of Trump's Georgia case going to trial before 2024 election
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during the second day of his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 16, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - With the Georgia Appeals Court decision to hear former President Donald Trump's bid to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified from the case against him, some legal experts say there is little to no chance the case will go to trial before the November election as Willis had hoped.
On Wednesday, the appeals court agreed to hear arguments by lawyers for Trump and co-defendants in the sweeping racketeering case related to the 2020 election. They argue Willis had an "improper" affair with a subordinate lawyer on her team and should be disqualified.
Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willlis' affair gave her team an "appearance of impropriety" and said special prosector Nathan Wade needed to be removed or Willis should step down. Wade resigned shortly following that ruling.
Timeline: Fulton County DA Fani Willis, Nathan Wade controversy
Appeal in DA Willis disqualification ruling
A decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals all but guarantees former President Donald Trump will not go to trial this year in the Fulton County election interference case. The court agreed to consider the former president's argument that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from the case. A decision is not expected until next year.
But Trump and his co-defendants appealed that decision, which will now go before the Court of Appeals. John Malcolm, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Atlanta, said there's "not a chance" Trump's Georgia election interference case will go to trial before November.
"Although the odds of the Georgia case coming to trial quickly were never very good, now that the Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to consider the recusal issue, there is not a chance the Georgia case is going to go to trial before the November election," Malcolm told Fox News Digital.
"There are still lots of pending motions that Judge McAfee will have to consider once (or if) the case is returned to him for further proceedings," Malcolm noted. He added that the U.S. Supreme Court's pending decision in the Trump immunity case may have an impact on some of the charges that Willis’ office has brought against the former president.
Malcolm added that "by dramatically overcharging this case and by engaging in an interoffice romance with a prosecutor whom she appointed, Fani Willis has no one but herself to blame for the predicament she is in."
Fulton County DA Fani WIllis holds up documents while on the witness stand accusing defense attorneys of lying during her disqualification hearing in the Trump Georgia election interference case on Feb. 15, 2024 (FOX 5)
MORE: Nathan Wade opens up about Fani Willis workplace romance: 'As American as apple pie'
Georgia State University law professor Anthony Kreis told Fox News in an interview that, according to the court's rules, the appeals court has to hear and decide a case within two terms.
"Now that's a long period of time. We're basically looking into early 2025 potentially if the court puts it at the end of its docket," Kreis said. "The Court of Appeals is a pretty busy court. And so, you know, maybe they want to take the [case] sooner, maybe they don't."
Kreis explained that it's not guaranteed the appeals court will hold oral arguments in the case and could just decide it based on briefings by both parties.
The earliest the appeals court could hear the case is August of this year.
"This mess definitely is of DA Willis’ own making," Shu added.
Willis did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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