ATLANTA — Now that Former President Donald Trump has been booked and paid bond, he's free to head home and wait until trial as long as the orders of his bond agreement are followed.
Judge Scott McAfee signed an order to begin the Georgia election RICO trial for at least one defendant on October 23. These dates might be subject to change, courts said. Judge McAfee clarified in the order released on Thursday that the stated deadlines do not pertain to any co-defendant.
The order came after the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, responding Thursday to a speedy trial demand by Georgia attorney Kenneth Chesebro, asked for an ambitious new timeline.
The former president "shall perform no act to intimidate any person known ... to be a co-defendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice," according to his bond conditions.
This means Trump must:
- Make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against any co-defendant or witness. This includes the 30 unindicted co-conspirators.
- Make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against the community or to any property in the community.
This includes social media posts or the sharing of others' posts, according to the document.
No, Trump would not automatically go to jail if he violates his bond order in Georgia. The judge has multiple options beyond placing a defendant in jail, including increasing the bond amount, issuing fines or modifying the bond conditions.
“There’s almost no realistic scenario [where] Donald Trump is going to be put in pretrial detention for anything less than an extraordinarily egregious violation of his bond,” Nicholas Creel, an assistant law professor at Georgia College and State University, told 11Alive's VERIFY team.
That has to do in large part with the logistical difficulties of holding Trump in jail. Federal law requires former presidents to receive Secret Service protection for life, even if they are behind bars.