Superior court judge to decide if Fani Willis will remain on election interference case

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said he would have a ruling within two weeks. And that two weeks wraps up Friday.

McAfee will decide if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified because of her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

“Is it an appearance of impropriety or is it a conflict of interest the judge seemed to be thinking during his hearing?” asked Timmons. “It was an appearance of impropriety as opposed to conflict of interest.”

Timmons adds that in his career, this isn’t a decision judges face often.

“As the judge said today there’s not a lot of law in this area so it may be something where he either grants the disqualification or denies the disqualification but gives the parties the ability to appeal it immediately which would then put this case on hold for a while,” he said.

As for Wednesday’s ruling, some charges against former President Donald Trump and others are dismissed, Timmons said as a prosecutor the meat of the case still stands.

“RICO under Georgia law is about as serious as attempted murder. It carries similar penalties to not murder but attempted murder which is still very serious, one of the most serious crimes somebody could be charged with, with regards to the charges that were dropped those would be closer to what would be drug charges,” said Timmons. “It gives the defense a chance to declare a victory on a battle but I don’t think it’s going to change the course of the war.”

In Wednesday’s decision, the judge gave the option to appeal.

If given the option to appeal the decision about disqualification, Timmons said those appeals can take up to one and a half years before decisions are returned.

Unless the court of appeals treats this case differently than others.