The Fulton County, Georgia, judge overseeing the racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others denied attorney Sidney Powell’s bid Thursday to have her charges dismissed, according to The Messenger.
Powell’s legal team argued that the case should be dismissed based on “prosecutorial misconduct,” alleging that the state was withholding evidence, according to The Messenger. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, an appointee of Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, rejected the request Thursday, saying that he didn’t see it as being “something that’s under the court’s authority.”
“Just purely on procedural grounds I don’t believe that this motion to dismiss for misconduct…I don’t see that as clearing just a procedural bar of being something that’s under the court’s authority,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said towards the end of the hearing. “It’s the jury’s role to decide contested issues.”
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Powell in August on charges relating to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, including violating Georgia’s “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations” (RICO) Act.
“I can sympathize with the idea that someone who vigorously contests and believes in their innocence doesn’t want to sit through a long trial, but that’s the state’s right to do,” he said. Powell’s trial, along with co-defendant Attorney Kenneth Cesebro, is set to begin on Oct. 23. (RELATED: Sidney Powell Pleads Not Guilty In Georgia Case)
Now: Fulton County prosecutors and Sidney Powell’s legal team are in court to argue a series of motions ahead of her trial later this month.
On the agenda: Powell’s motion for “Brady” evidence & Powell’s motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
Watch: https://t.co/ypba6J3H9i
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) October 5, 2023
“Sidney Powell is innocent of all charges alleged in the indictment,” her lawyers wrote in a Sept. 27 filing. “Because of this, the State necessarily has possession of significant evidence that exonerates her of all charges.”
As to the claims that the state needed to hand over more evidence, McAfee said he needs to “hear more exactly about what it is concretely that the state needs to be doing.”
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