Georgia appeals court blocks Fulton DA Willis from election meddling case: NPR

ATLANTA – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office cannot continue to prosecute the Georgia election interference case involving President-elect Donald Trump, the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled.

However, the court declined to dismiss the case itself. The decision is likely to be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

“Although this is the rare instance in which DA Willis and her office must be disqualified due to a substantial appearance of impropriety, we cannot conclude that the record also supports the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment below the appropriate standard. ” wrote the judges of the Court of Appeal. The three-judge panel voted 2-1 to disqualify Willis.

The case has been thrown into disarray since Willis admitted to a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired for the case.

A trial court had ruled in March 2024 that Willis could remain on the case amid allegations of misconduct only if Wade resigned his appointment. Several defendants appealed that ruling and the case have largely been stopped since this summer.

Trump is unlikely to be convicted before 2029, if at all. Trump’s lawyers have separately asked the courts to dismiss his charges entirely now that he is president-elect.

The Georgia case represents the last remaining charges against Trump.

Regardless of what happens with Trump’s charges in Georgia, the other 14 remaining co-defendants could face sentencing in the sweeping racketeering case as soon as late next year.

If the Georgia Supreme Court hears the case and upholds the decision, the director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia will be tasked with appointing a new prosecutor.

The case focuses on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results by pressuring state officials and election workers, submitting a list of fraudulent voters and attempting to tamper with sensitive election equipment. Four have pleaded guilty.

Then in January 2024, co-defendant Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staffer, accused Willis of misconduct that threatened to derail the case. Roman alleged that Willis enriched himself by taking fancy vacations with Wade, funded by his compensation to the prosecution. Willis and Wade testified in front of the judge and said she paid her own way on the trips or reimbursed him in cash for her share of the expenses.

Fulton Chief Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis’ romantic relationship with Wade created an apparent conflict of interest, but did not require her disqualification.

McAfee wrote that “an outsider might reasonably believe that the District Attorney does not exercise his independent professional judgment completely free from compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist.”

The appeals court was originally scheduled to consider the appeal in December before abruptly canceling oral arguments not long after Trump won a second term.

Trump had faced four separate prosecutions. He was convicted in New York on charges related to hush money payments, and a judge recently ruled that the president-elect cannot claim presidential immunity to overturn that conviction. The two federal cases against Trump were dropped after he won the election last month.

In the Georgia case, a central legal question in the case has been whether state law only requires disqualification of a district attorney for an actual conflict of interest or merely apparent impropriety.

“After carefully considering the court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred in failing to disqualify DA Willis and her office,” concluded Judge Trenton Brown, writing for the majority. “The remedy designed by the trial to prevent an ongoing appearance of impropriety did nothing to address the appearance of impropriety that existed at times when DA Willis exercised his broad pre-trial discretion as to who to prosecute and which charges to be brought.”

“While we recognize that an appearance of impropriety is generally not enough to support disqualification, this is the rare case where disqualification is warranted and no other remedy will be sufficient to restore public confidence in the integrity of these procedures,” Brown continued.

Judge Todd Markle agreed. Brown and Markle were both appointed by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Judge Benjamin Land, appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, dissented.

“For at least the past 43 years, our appellate courts have held that an appearance of impropriety, absent an actual conflict of interest or actual impropriety, provides no basis for reversing a trial court’s denial of a motion to disqualify,” Land wrote.

The decision caps a tumultuous year for Willis. In early 2024, Willis was seen as a rising star on the national stage as she not only led the charge against a former president, but also pushed in other high-profile cases, like a racketeering case involving rapper Young Thug . In May, she defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary.

But as the year went on, these marquee houses stumbled or fell apart.

McAfee has repealed more counts in the indictment, but there are still 32 counts left.