Fani Willis Suffers Blow in Trump Case

Fulton County District Attorney Fani WIllis, left, looks on during a hearing for the Georgia election interfence case, Misty Hampton, centre has her mugshot taken after being indicted alongside former president Donald Trump in Atlanta in August 2023, while Trump, right, arrives to speak at a Washington Conference. Willis's case against Hampton has been suspended pending Trump's appeal to remove the DA from the case.

The Georgia Court of Appeals has suspended a case against a Donald Trump co-defendant, dealing a setback to Fulton County District Attorney (DA) Fani Willis, pending Trump's appeal to remove her from the case.

Former Coffee County elections director Misty Hampton is one of 19, including Trump, accused of conspiring to overturn the result of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. All co-defendants deny the charges, apart from four who have taken a plea deal.

On Wednesday, the Appeals Court overturned Judge Scott McAfee's ruling from earlier this month in which he rejected Hampton's request to have the case against her suspended, pending the outcome of other appeals.

Her request came after an Appeals Court order on June 5 to indefinitely pause trial proceedings against Trump and other co-defendants during their appeal against Judge McAfee's March decision to allow Willis to stay on the case.

Previously, in an attempt to get Willis and her team disqualified and the charges against them thrown out, some of the defendants, including Trump, had argued that a personal relationship between Willis and her lead prosecutor Nathan Wade created a conflict of interest. While Willis and Wade confirmed that they had been in a relationship, they said that neither had personally benefited from it.

McAfee, who is presiding over the election interference case, ruled that the evidence presented by the defense was "legally insufficient" to conclude that there was a conflict of interest, however, "the appearance of impropriety" remained. He said Willis and her office would either need to step aside and let another district attorney take over the case, or Wade would have to withdraw himself from the case. Wade resigned hours after McAfee filed his decision.

Trump and nine co-defendants appealed the ruling that allowed Willis to stay on.

Hampton was not part of the motion to remove Willis, but after the Appeals Court paused proceedings against the co-defendants who were party to the motion, she requested that her case be put on hold too.

Wednesday's order stated "Based upon Misty Hampton's request that this Court stay her case pending this Court's resolution of the outcome of the appeal in [The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al], this Court hereby stays all underlying proceedings against her in the Superior Court of Fulton County pending the outcome of the appeal.

The Appeal's Court ruling in Hampton's favor comes as a blow to Willis, who, following the earlier June 5 order, intended to proceed prosecutions against six of the co-defendants, including Hampton, who were not party to the motion to remove her.

The order gives a legal avenue for the remaining five co-defendants to request the cases be paused pending appeal, meaning that the DA's cases against all 15 remaining co-defendants will likely be entrenched in a legal quagmire of pretrial proceedings, further extending the timeline before any trial can take place.

A tentative date of October 4 has been set for an appeals panel to consider Willis' disqualification. Once it rules, the losing side could ask the Georgia Supreme Court to consider an appeal, making it all but certain that Trump will not stand trial before the November 5 election.

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