Update, Sept. 14, 2023 at 11:39 AM:
Prominent Atlanta attorney Steven H. Sadow has successfully severed former President Donald Trump’s RICO case from his 18 co-defendants.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee denied Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ request to try Trump and his 18 co-defendants together.
Trump and 18 others were indicted in August on 41 RICO charges related to the 2020 election.
Trump hired Sadow (2nd from left) after firing his Atlanta legal team when he turned himself in at the Fulton County Jail last month.
READ ALSO: Trump Hires Rapper Gunna’s RICO Defense Attorney
Sadow recently represented rapper Gunna in his high-profile YSL RICO case. Gunna took a plea deal and was released after serving nearly a year in the Fulton County Jail.
Sadow (left) has also represented rappers T.I., Rick Ross and singer Usher, in addition to Atlanta strip club the Gold Club.
Willis had asked the judge to try all 19 defendants in the same massive courtroom, but Judge McAfee said there is no courtroom large enough to accommodate all the defendants plus their legal teams.
Judge McAfee said Willis’ request was “simply a procedural and logistical inevitability.”
“The Fulton County Courthouse simply contains no courtroom adequately large enough to hold all 19 defendants, their multiple attorneys and support staff, the sheriff’s deputies, court personnel, and the State’s prosecutorial team,” McAfee wrote in his decision.
The breaking news comes weeks after McAfee denied Willis’ request to prevent two defendants from invoking their rights to a speedy trial.
Judge McAfee granted motions from Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell to sever their criminal cases from the 17 other co-defendants.
Chesebro and Powell had asked for speedy trials to begin in October. But McAfee denied their request to try them separately. Both defendants will be tried at the same time.
Trump has asked that his case be moved to federal court for trial at a later date in 2024.
Atlanta area attorneys noted that Willis opposed the defendants’ rights to speedy trial because, if successful, their trials would provide a “preview” for Trump’s defense if his case is moved to federal court.
“She doesn’t want to have to give this whole preview of the case to Trump and everybody else,” said Andrew Fleischman, a Georgia-based appellate attorney.
Willis and other members of the LGBT+ community attended Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ Black Gay Pride Reception at Atlanta City Hall on Aug. 31. Willis is pictured with Mayor Dickens.
