Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee granted the former president’s motion seeking an immediate review by Georgia’s Court of Appeals of his bombshell ruling on Friday allowing the embattled DA to continue prosecuting the case, despite her affair with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Trump and seven other co-defendants seeking to boot Willis did not have an automatic right to appeal before the start of a trial.
However, McAfee granted the rare measure, citing the importance of the case.
The appeal also delays a trial from being scheduled, making it highly unlikely it would take place before the election in November.
The defendants must now wait to see if the appeals court agrees to hear the case.
Trump lawyer Steve Sadow called McAfee’s Wednesday decision “highly significant” and added he’s hopeful the appeal will win.
“The defense is optimistic that appellate review will lead to the case being dismissed and the DA being disqualified,” he added.
The trial against Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants has effectively screeched to a halt since co-defendant Mike Roman’s lawyer filed explosive papers in January revealing Willis and Wade’s affair and calling for her to be disqualified for alleged improper conduct.
After hearing two days of testimony last month — including from Willis and Wade — McAfee found the pair didn’t have a conflict of interest in the case, but the mere appearance of wrongdoing meant that one of them had to step down.
Wade resigned from the case the same day.
But lawyers for Trump and the others slammed McAfee’s ruling — which was highly critical of Willis — claiming it didn’t go far enough and the whole prosecutorial team needed to go.
In his motion asking to appeal, Sadow and the attorneys criticized Willis’ January speech at Atlanta’s Big Bethel AME Church, where she claimed the backlash against her and Wade was racially motivated because they are both black.
They said this would mean the defendants would not be able to get a fair trial, writing: “Whether District Attorney Willis and her office are permitted to continue representing the State of Georgia in prosecuting the defendants in this action is of the utmost importance to this case, and ensuring the appellate courts have the opportunity to weigh in on these matters pre-trial is paramount.” In January, Sadow had filed another motion to have Willis taken off the case, saying her comments at the church were “falsely and intentionally injecting race into this case.” Keith Johnson, a Georgia-based defense attorney and former prosecutor, told The Post Wednesday that McAfee’s decision allowing the appeal pre-trial is rare and said that until the matter is decided, the case will effectively “be at a standstill.” “Practically speaking, the trial will not proceed until the Georgia Court of Appeals makes a ruling on Judge McAfee’s order to allow District Attorney Willis to remain as a prosecutor on the case,” Johnson said.
Willis’ office didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday morning.
Wednesday marked a legal win for Donald Trump in the Georgia election fraud case against him, as a judge granted him the right to appeal the decision permitting District Attorney Fani Willis to continue with the case.
Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County granted the former president’s request for an expedited review by the Georgia Court of Appeals of his shocking decision from Friday, which permitted the troubled district attorney to carry out the case in spite of her liaison with lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Trump did not automatically have the right to file an appeal prior to the commencement of the trial, nor did the other seven co-defendants who wanted to disqualify Willis.
Noting the significance of the case, McAfee did, however, grant the unusual mesure. The trial’s scheduling is further postponed by the appeal, greatly reducing the likelihood that it will happen before November’s election.
It is now up to the defendants to wait and see if the appeals court will take the case.
After describing McAfee’s Wednesday ruling as “extremely significant,” Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow expressed optimism that the appeal will be successful.
He continued, “The defense is hopeful that the case will be dismissed and the DA will be disqualified as a result of the appellate review process.”.
With the filing of explosive papers by co-defendant Mike Roman’s attorney in January disclosing Willis and Wade’s affair and demanding that she be disqualified for alleged improper conduct, the trial against Trump and the other fourteen co-defendants has all but come to an end.
McAfee concluded that although Willis and Wade did not have a conflict of interest in the case following two days of testimony last month, one of them had to resign due to the appearance of misconduct.
The same day, Wade left the case.
Nevertheless, attorneys representing Trump and the other defendants attacked McAfee’s decision, which was harshly critical of Willis, saying it was insufficient and that the entire prosecution team should have been fired.
Sadow and the lawyers attacked Willis’ January speech at Atlanta’s Big Bethel AME Church, in which she said the backlash against her and Wade was racially motivated because they are both black, in his motion requesting an appeal.
In their writing, they claimed that this would prevent the defendants from receiving a fair trial and that it would be crucial for the appellate courts to have a chance to comment on the case’s most important issues before the trial: “Whether District Attorney Willis and her office are permitted to continue representing the State of Georgia in prosecuting the defendants in this action is essential to this case.”. “.
Sadow claimed in January that Willis’ remarks at the church were “falsely and intentionally injecting race into this case,” and she filed a second move to have Willis removed from the case. “.
Former prosecutor and defense lawyer Keith Johnson, who practices in Georgia, told The Post on Wednesday that McAfee’s decision to permit the appeal before trial is unusual and that the case will essentially “be at a standstill” until it is resolved. “.
In actuality, Johnson stated, the trial won’t start until the Georgia Court of Appeals rules on Judge McAfee’s order permitting District Attorney Willis to continue prosecuting the case.
An inquiry for comments made Wednesday morning went unanswered by Willis’s office.
