ATLANTA — The Fulton County judge overseeing the 2020 Georgia election RICO case is allowing an appeal filed by lawyers for former President Donald Trump and seven others to move forward.
What that means for the case is two-pronged.
On the one hand, Judge McAfee specified in his order issued Wednesday that he will not halt other proceedings in the RICO case while the appeal of his disqualification decision -- which allowed Fulton D.A. Fani Willis to remain on the case if special prosecutor Nathan Wade stepped down -- plays out.
On the other hand, the particular matter of Willis continuing on the case now heads to the Georgia Court of Appeals, the court one step below the Georgia Supreme Court.
The initial timeline for the appeal of the Willis disqualification decision is fairly straightforward, according to the appellate court's website:
- Attorneys for Trump and the others on the appeal have 10 days to bring their appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals.
- The Georgia Court of Appeals then has 45 days to accept or reject it under state law (O.C.G.A. §5-6-34).
If the Court of Appeals does decide to hear the appeal, then the timeline stretches out in an unpredictable way.
An attorney who used to be on the Georgia election RICO case representing Jenna Ellis, Frank Hogue, told 11Alive the Court of Appeals would then need to set a briefing schedule and possibly schedule oral arguments. After briefings are filed and potential oral arguments are heard, then there would be the time it takes for the Court of Appeals to actually issue an order.
All of which would take time -- though how much, exactly, is impossible to say. This appeal process could also be expedited, which would shorten this process.
Emory Law's John Acevedo noted that the case is only delayed if the Court of Appeals actually does McAfee.
"In his order granting the certificate of review Judge McAfee stated that he would continue to review unrelated motions in the case. Therefore as a practical matter the appeal will not immediately effect the timeline of the case," Acevedo said. "If the Court of Appeals were to overturn the ruling and remove DA Willis that could then pose a serious delay."
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