In an interview with The Messenger, Knowles Gallant Timmons Partner Chris Timmons discusses the scheduling complexities of Georgia’s 19-defendant RICO case. While Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ legal team has made clear they are pushing for all 19 defendants to be tried together, many expect there to be three consecutive sets of trials. Alternatively, Judge McAfee could request assistance from another judge – a practice that has become more common post-COVID.

Regardless, the public should remain poised for the long game. From his prior experience as a prosecutor in criminal RICO cases, Timmons told The Messenger that severance is very rare in
racketeering cases and there is no precedent for multiple trials happening in tandem. He believes Judge McAfee may prefer to have one large trial for the sake of not occupying the docket for too long.

“If the federal removal issue is resolved, he’d prefer to keep them all together,” Timmons said.

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