ATLANTA — Before summer's end, former President Donald Trump and several of his allies could be indicted in Georgia for criminally interfering in the 2020 election he lost.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told county Sheriff Pat Labat, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, and Mayor Andre Dickens that charging decisions related to the investigation will come before Sept. 1.
What could follow are complex legal proceedings that may cast shadows on the former president's 2024 bid to regain the White House.
RELATED: Fulton DA: Decision on charges for Trump and allies in 2020 election investigation to come in summer
The decision to put Trump and company on trial rests not with Willis or her office. A Fulton County grand jury will make that call, and the earliest they can hear evidence is July 17, Willis told 11Alive in a brief interview.
Willis told 11Alive that one of Fulton County's two regular grand juries will hear the 2020 election investigation case.
"If we were going to bring forth an indictment on any case — to include (the 2020 election investigation) — it would go through the regular process," she said.
11Alive also spoke with a former Gwinnett County district attorney, a former Fulton County prosecutor, and two 11Alive staffers who served on grand juries last year to understand how the process works. Georgia statutes and the state's uniform rules for superior courts also provide guidelines for grand jury procedures.
Who can serve on a grand jury in Georgia? How are they picked?
You must meet the following conditions to serve on a Georgia grand jury, according to the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia, an organization that assists elected and appointed prosecutors across the state.
They are:
- You must be a United States citizen
- You must be 18 years old
- You must currently reside in the county and have lived there for six months prior to serving on the jury
Several factors — such as serving as a juror in the past 12 months, being deemed mentally incompetent by a court of law, or having a felony conviction — would disqualify residents from the jury pool.
Jurors in Georgia are selected from a master list of eligible residents. The Council of Superior Court Clerks creates the list using drivers license and voter registration data. Lists of eligible residents are then sent to counties.
The county clerk of court then selects random names from the county's master list. Typically, no more than 75 people are summoned for a single jury, and summons are sent 20 days before the court term begins, according to a jury handbook published by the Prosecuting Attorneys Council of Georgia.
Twenty-three people are selected to serve on the grand jury, and up to three alternates are also selected. During this process, residents may be excused from jury duty if they meet certain exemption requirements.
The judge then swears in the jury. The jurors then elect a foreperson, an assistant foreperson and a secretary.
There are two kinds of grand juries: regular grand juries and special purpose grand juries. Special purpose grand juries lack the power to issue indictments. They are also rarely formed. Special purpose grand juries are used to focus on a singular event or investigation. They are most often used in complex, public corruption cases.
Grand juries in Fulton County
Under District Attorney Willis' term, two grand juries are sat in Fulton County during each court term. Court terms in Fulton County last two months. State law dictates the term of court in each judicial circuit.
Former Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter told 11Alive that the state legislature can modify the county's term of court — traditionally with input from the county's judges.
One grand jury meets on Monday and Tuesday. A second grand jury meets Thursday and Friday to hear evidence and issue indictments. The grand jury begins its work at 8:30 a.m. and could work as late as 5 p.m. or 6 p.m, Wills told 11Alive during an interview last week.
At least 16 jurors must be present for proceedings, and 12 jurors must vote to indict in a case. The jury expected to hear evidence tied to the 2020 election investigation will sit July 11. It won't review any cases during the first week, Willis said.
Grand juries hear a variety of criminal cases throughout the two month term. Typically, a prosecutor from the district attorney's office presents their arguments and calls a witness from the case. A witness must appear before the grand jury. Hearsay is admissible in these hearings.
When deliberating and voting on indictments, only jurors can be present.
"Everyone steps out when the grand jury deliberates," said former Fulton County prosecutor Melissa Redmon. Redmon, who worked for the Fulton County DA's Office until 2019, currently serves as the director of the University of Georgia Law School's Prosecutorial Justice Program
"If they have additional questions, they can ring (a) bell and call the DA back in to answer any additional questions," Redmon added. "No one is in the room while they're deliberating and while they are voting."
To indict, the jurors return a "true bill." If the jury decides prosecutors didn't show probable cause, they return a "no bill." The document remains in the grand jury room until the end of the day, Redmon said.
A Fulton County Sheriff's Office bailiff then takes the indictments and delivers them to a judge who presents the document in open court. The indictment is filed with the clerk's office, and a case number is given.
Typically, the judge who swears in the grand jury hears any motions related to the cases. Fulton County also uses an on-call system where each week a different presiding judge can rule on last-minute matters. However, the presiding judge doesn't typically handle matters relating to the grand jury, Willis told 11Alive.
Fulton County Superior Court maintains a calendar for presiding judges, but it hasn't been updated online since February.
What's next in the Trump case?
The Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury — the panel that initially investigated potential criminal interference tied to the 2020 election — completed its work in January.
In previous media interviews, foreperson Emily Kohrs said the jury recommended indictments for more than a dozen people.
In May, at least two court filings are expected to come.
Attorney Kimberly Burroughs Debrow will respond to claims that she didn't inform her clients in the case of potential immunity offers. Debrow represents a majority of the "fake" Trump electors — Republicans who cast Electoral College ballots falsely claiming Trump won the election.
Willis wants Debrow removed from the case. Debrow denied the allegations in a statement to 11Alive. Debrow has until May 5 to respond.
Willis will respond to motions from Trump and fake elector Cathy Latham. Both Trump and Latham seek to bury the special purpose grand jury's report and end the election investigation.
Judge Robert McBurney issued an order Monday giving Willis until May 15 to respond.