We will not see him say “Not guilty” in front of the cameras. Donald Trump, charged with attempt to overturn the verdict of the 2020 presidential polls in the state of Georgia, pleaded not guilty, according to a court document filed Thursday. The former American president thus renounces to appear before the court for the reading of the indictment, scheduled for next week, and which would undoubtedly have been broadcast live on television – because Georgia is more “media friendly”. than federal justice.
This is the fourth criminal case in which Donald Trump has been prosecuted. who is running for the White House again and remains the favorite for the Republican primaries.
19 defendants
Donald Trump and 18 other people, including his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, were charged in mid-August with unlawful attempts to reverse the result of the 2020 election, won in this key state by the current Democratic president. Joe Biden.
The law on organized crime, used by the prosecutor in this case, provides for sentences of five to twenty years in prison. In this case, Donald Trump had to go last week to an Atlanta prison to be put on file, a first for a former American president. He was subjected to a photo identification forensic before quickly leaving.
Trial date unknown
We do not yet know the date of the trial. Some defendants asked for an express trial in October, and prosecutor Fani Willis assured that she was ready, provided that she could try all the defendants at the same time.
An unlikely scenario, according to many experts, given the complexity of the case. According to attorney Brad Moss, the federal trials (on the election and the classified documents) will probably take place first, in March 2024 and in May, before a possible trial in Georgia.
Donald Trump also hopes to be able to transfer the trial to a federal court, before which he could have a more favorable jury than in the county of Fulton, mainly Democrats. And especially to have a chance to draw lots for a judge he appointed during his presidency.
Important detail: even if Donald Trump obtained a change of jurisdiction, the charges would remain at the level of the State of Georgia. This means that in the event of a prison sentence, he could not pardon himself if he won the presidential election of 2024.
2023-08-31 17:27:18
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