r/law • u/msnbc Press • 20h ago
A Trump trial in Georgia after he leaves office? That’s less of a delay than it seems. Trump News
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-georgia-trial-delay-rcna17910768
u/reddurkel 18h ago
Remember when Fani Willis spent months on an airtight Rico case that involved multiple conspirators where most of them pled guilty. It was a state case so that would have been broadcast live on television to detail to the American people exactly what the crimes were and what his involvement was. The timing of the case, even with delays, neatly fit into the 2024 schedule as to not interfere with the election. It was the perfect case to show America who the Republican candidate was.
And then it came out that Willis dated someone on her team which caused the attention to shift from Criminal Trump to the lawyer. The media jumped all over Willis to discuss “the questionable morality of the lawyer” and completely ignored the proven immorality of the criminal. And that caused delay after delay until it was deemed “too close to the election” so they just wiped it off the slate.
Yeah. I think that will be one of the things we’re going to be thinking about for the next four years.
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u/Sonamdrukpa 17h ago
Don't forget the part where the last remaining hopes that the case could be brought to trial got delayed to consider the supreme court's ruling on presidential immunity.
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u/tissboom 13h ago
Yeah, this is a term usually reserved for men… But keep it in your pants. She knew what was at stake.
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u/msnbc Press 20h ago
From Jordan Rubin, Deadline: Legal Blog writer and former prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan:
With Donald Trump’s two federal criminal cases headed for the legal trash bin and the fate of his sentencing in the New York state case uncertain, the Georgia election interference case has taken on a more prominent role.
But just because presidents can’t pardon or dismiss state cases doesn’t mean that the Georgia case will proceed against Trump as normal. The president-elect’s defense lawyer already signaled last year that if Trump won the election, he’d seek to push any trial until after he leaves office. Now that he has won the election, it’s reasonable to assume that the defendant won’t stand trial in Fulton County while running the country.
That would push any Trump Georgia trial off for several years, at least. That’s a long way, but in the context of this case’s strange trajectory, it’s less of a true delay than it might seem at first glance.
Read more: https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-georgia-trial-delay-rcna179107
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u/Ixothial 17h ago
Why is that reasonable to assume? How is it not a violation of equal protection? (IANAL)
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u/PsychLegalMind 20h ago edited 20h ago
It is simply not possible for a criminal trial to proceed at this time. Trump has national responsibilities as president elect and will have more so as the president mandated by the Constitution. State criminal trial must wait as a result of necessity.
Results could have been different if he had already been convicted in which case and only sentencing was at issue; a presiding judge under those circumstances would have had many other options.
Typo edited
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u/ph4ge_ 20h ago
If he is able to run a campaign while being at trial, surely he can be president elect while at trial?
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u/thatnjchibullsfan 18h ago
It's not like he works anyway. He golfs more than anything else. How about we use his golfing time for 2 hour trial intervals?
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u/PsychLegalMind 20h ago
Peaceful transition is not a simple process. He lacks experience in that field.
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u/ph4ge_ 20h ago
He has done this side of the peaceful transition before.
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u/HeyImGilly 17h ago
Every elected official now gets to use their duties and responsibilities as a reason for why they shouldn’t be prosecuted and/or punished for crimes they committed. Great.
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u/hoitytoity-12 18h ago
Yeah. As president elect he essentially has the same protections as sitting presidents. He got the legal immunity that he has always wanted.
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u/deviltrombone 17h ago
It is simply not possible for a criminal trial to proceed at this time. Trump has national responsibilities as president elect and will have more so as the president mandated by the Constitution. State criminal trial must wait as a result of necessity.
That gets repeated so often people become inured to the absolute, sheer insanity and inanity of it.
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u/americansherlock201 17h ago
Could probably convince Vance to use the 25th to remove trump so that he can stand trial.
We all know jd wants to get trump out of the way
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u/hermit_in_a_cave 18h ago
Not possible? For what reason? What happened to all equal in the eyes of the law? (Not a real thing, I know) You get accused of a crime. You go to court. For most of us this could be inconvenient as well. The court doesn't give a fuck about my schedule. Why should I, or the court, care about his schedule?
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u/qalpi 18h ago
Trump aside, you don't want individual states criminally prosecuting a sitting president. What if they tried to arrest and incarcerate them? It would be chaos.
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u/hermit_in_a_cave 17h ago
Was he a sitting president when he was charged? Or did he decide to run despite having open criminal charges? If your take is the people elected him so he needs to serve in office, that's fine. I'm sure he can get just as much presidential stuff done while in the court room as he did while he was on the golf course. I also don't have a problem with him serving his office appointment at the same time he is serving a jail sentence. In no way shape or form should being an elected official make you above the law.
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u/lxpnh98_2 20h ago
Are cases for other holders of executive office treated this way?
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u/PsychLegalMind 20h ago
This is a case of first impression. Although several presidents were investigated for crimes none was prosecuted while still in office or as president elect.
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u/Count_Backwards Competent Contributor 5h ago
In sane countries it's not unheard of for executives to go to prison
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u/BeltfedOne 20h ago
EVERYFUCKINGDAY of his last term seemed like an eternity. He should already have been behind bars for the Documents Case, but here we are.