Georgia DA Fani Willis asks for Donald Trump trial date ahead of Super Tuesday

Aug. 16 (UPI) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting Donald Trump and numerous co-defendants in Georgia on allegations the former president led a criminal enterprise to influence the results of the 2020 election, has asked for a trial date ahead of Super Tuesday.

Willis filed a motion for a scheduling order Wednesday in the Fulton County Superior Court, noting that prosecutors are trying to find court deadlines that do not conflict with the three other criminal indictments Trump is facing, court records obtained by UPI show.

“In light of defendant Donald John Trump’s other criminal and civil matters pending in the courts of our sister sovereigns, the State of Georgia proposes certain deadlines that do not conflict with these other courts’ already-scheduled hearings and trial dates,” Willis wrote in the document.

“Further, the proposed dates are requested so as to allow the defendants’ needs to review discovery and prepare for trial but also to protect the State of Georgia’s and the public’s interest in a prompt resolution of the charges for which the defendants have been indicted.”

Specifically, Willis proposed that the arraignment for Trump and his co-defendants take place the week of September 5, followed by a period of evidence discovery and motions hearings ahead of the trial.

Former President Donald Trump could be facing the start of a trial on the Monday before Super Tuesday, the day when a large number of states will hold 2024 presidential primary elections. File Photo by Peter Foley/UPI

Willis proposed that the trial begin March 4. That date is the Monday before Super Tuesday, the day when a large number of states will hold 2024 presidential primary elections.

Trump remains the top polling contender among Republicans in the race despite his rising legal issues.

A start date of March 24 for a trial could pose complications for prosecutors in New York, where Donald Trump (pictured at the LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster earlier this month) is charged in a state case on allegations he falsified business records in connection with a hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Photo by Peter Foley/UPI

The trial date could pose complications for prosecutors in New York, where Trump is charged in a state case on allegations he falsified business records in connection with a hush-money payment made to adult actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

That trial is currently scheduled to begin March 25, just three weeks later.

Also related to the Georgia case, a group of media companies has filed a motion seeking the release of the full report completed by a special grand jury in January ahead of the indictment.

The special grand jury had been impaneled in Fulton County to carry out the investigation by Willis but has been kept secret ever since.

Special grand juries do not return indictments and the report issued by that panel likely influenced the indictment handed up by the grand jury Monday.