The star of the show was missing, but the first episode of the Trial of Trump delivered plenty of drama and lots of headlines.
In the first televised hearing from Fulton County Court, prosecutors said it will take four months and at least 150 witnesses to set out their case that former President Donald Trump conspired with 18 co-defendants to overturn the 2020 Georgia election results.
Wednesday was supposed to be the day when Trump and his 18 co-stars would troop through the court to hear the charges against them and enter their pleas before a live TV camera.
Instead they delivered their pleas remotely, the better to save time and money.
It meant the afternoon in courtroom 5a was given over to complex legal argument about how to run such a mammoth trial and ensure that everyone is treated fairly.
Attorney Scott Grubman, who is defending Ken Chesebro, argues before Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee. Television cameras were allowed into a hearing in one of the cases against Donald Trump for the first time on Wednesday in Atlanta, Georgia
Trump, seen here in his Fulton County booking photo, entered a not guilty plea in a court filing so did not have to attend an arraignment scheduled for Wednesday morning
Prosecutors want to bring the huge case to trial as quickly as possible. On Wednesday Judge Scott McAfee asked them to set out exactly how long they will need in court.
‘Firstly, we will contend that a trial of these 19 co-defendants will take four months and that does not include jury selection,’ said Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade.
‘And it’s also predicated upon whether or not of course, the defendants elected to testify or not, but four months is our is our time estimate.
‘In terms of the number of witnesses there are in excess of 150 witnesses that the state intends to call.’
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis last month used the state’s anti-racketeering law to obtain a vast 41-count indictment and has made clear that she wants to try all 19 defendants together. But the maneuvering and delays have already begun amid bewildering legal challenges.
Their target of October 23 seems a stretch already.
On Wednesday, it was the turn of attorneys for pro-Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell made their arguments to have their cases tried rapidly, but separately.
Others want their cases tried slowly, but separately.
The hearing was the first under new rules allowing in TV cameras – the first time in the four cases against Trump.
Trump is accused with 18 co-defendants. Prosecutors want to move fast, opening their case on October 23. But legal difficulties remain as some defendants say they need more time
Attorney Brian Rafferty, who represents Sidney Powell, argued that her case was very different from that of Ken Chesebro and they should not be heard as part of the same trial
Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade, representing the district attorney’s office, said they would need four months and at least 150 witnesses to set out their conspiracy case
It was meant to be the day when Trump and his 18 co-defendants appeared in court one-by-one.
Fulton County Court Judge Scott McAfee had it all planned. He had scheduled hearings in court 5a every 15 minutes through the day.
Instead, they all waived their right to a hearing and entered their not-guilty pleas in writing. With most living outside the state, it saved them a trip and a few hours of lawyers’ fees.
Trump, like the others, has denied any wrongdoing and rejects accusations that he unlawfully sought to reverse the outcome of the election in Georgia.
Instead of a media circus, McAfee was left to hear from lawyers representing Chesebro and Powell as they made their complex cases for ‘severance’ from each other.
Their lawyers argued that they should not be tried together because they were accused of separate things within a vast alleged conspiracy.
‘Based on what’s been presented today, I am not finding the severance for Mr. Chesebro or Powell is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence for either defendant in this case,’ Scott McAfee said
‘The state wants to make this case about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is one of 19 defendants,’ said Chesebro’s lawyer.
‘Ken Chesebro is another one. Ken Chesbro is not a politician.
‘Before six, seven months ago, he was probably unknown to 99.999 percent of the population. You got all those nines?
‘And so now to force him to sit here in a trial, where there’s evidence of all these other things, it’s just not fair.’
Nine lawyers from Willis’ team took the first long public bench in the wood-paneled courtroom to watch the argument unfold.
Behind them sat other defense lawyers monitoring the case for their clients and a dozen or so journalists. A sole TV camera was beaming proceedings from the corner.
The judge was unmoved by the argument to split the Chesebro and Powell cases.
‘Based on what’s been presented today, I am not finding the severance for Mr. Chesebro or Powell is necessary to achieve a fair determination of the guilt or innocence for either defendant in this case,’ McAfee said.
He also admitted skepticism that the whole trial of 19 would be ready to go ahead on Oct. 23, as planned.
Blacks for Trump rallied outside the courthouse before the hearing on Wednesday. A small number of opponents of Trump also turned out, making their presence heard
Security was tight around the courthouse, even if Donald Trump was not due to appear
There were questions over ‘removal,’ he pointed out, with some defendants pushing to have their cases moved to federal court.
‘It’s not easy and we’ve got again in less than two months to figure this out,’ he told prosecutors. ‘So I think to kind of charge ahead without coming to some thoughts on this very soon might be risky.’
Missing was the star of the show, after Trump waived his right to appear.
And he made use of the fact that he wasn’t present to launch a fundraising blitz.
‘Today was supposed to be my scheduled arraignment in Atlanta,’ he said in an email appeal to supporters.
‘But I refuse to be part of the Left’s televised spectacle as they weaponize the legal system to try and make me look like a criminal and list over a dozen false charges against me on live TV.’
Instead he urged supporters to send him money.
Meanwhile, some of the legal arguments that could make or break his 2024 election run played out in the spacious surroundings of courtroom 5a. Ittands in a modern tower annex beside the beaux arts courthouse that has loomed over downtown Atlanta for more than a century.
During that time it has had its fair share of high-profile cases.
It was here that Wayne Williams was convicted in 1981 of murdering two men, while the prime suspect in the Atlanta Child Murders case of 22 dead children.
Football star Ray Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after a double murder during a Super Bowl party in Atlanta in 2000.
And in 2005 Brian Nichols, accused of rape, kidnapping and assault, managed to overpower a deputy and seized her gun. He shot dead the judge in his trial, a court reporter and an ICE special agent before being hunted down and recaptured.
None, however, will likely compare to the spectacle of a former president and his associates standing trial.
‘This will be a circus like nothing else,’ said a court employee outside the building.
