Four months and 150 witnesses: In first live TV hearing, Trump prosecutors reveal Georgia election case will be a marathon – while judge warns it’s ‘unrealistic’ that all 19 defendants will be able to stand trial in October’

The star of the show was missing, but the first episode of the Trump trial produced a lot of drama and a lot of headlines.

In the first televised hearing of the Fulton County Court, prosecutors said it will take four months and at least 150 witnesses to make their case that former President Donald Trump conspired with 18 co-defendants to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results .

Wednesday would be the day Trump and his eighteen co-stars would walk through court to hear the charges against them and present their pleas in front of a live TV camera.

Instead, they kept their pleas at bay so they could save time and money.

It meant that the afternoon in Courtroom 5a was spent in complex legal discussions about how to conduct such a massive trial and ensure that everyone is treated fairly.

Prosecutors want to bring the huge case to court as soon as possible. On Wednesday, Judge Scott McAfee asked them to indicate exactly how long they will need in court.

“First, we will argue that a trial against these 19 co-defendants will take four months and that will not include jury selection,” Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade said.

And it also depends on whether or not the defendants chose to testify or not, but four months is our estimate.

“In terms of the number of witnesses, there are well over 150 witnesses the state wants to call.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis used the state’s anti-racketeering law last month to secure a massive 41-count indictment and has made it clear she wants all 19 defendants tried together. But the maneuvering and slowing down has already begun, amid baffling legal challenges.

Their goal of October 23 already seems like a tall order.

On Wednesday, it was the turn of pro-Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell put forward their arguments for their cases to be heard quickly, but separately.

Others want their cases to be tried slowly but separately.

The hearing was the first under new rules that allowed TV cameras — the first in four cases against Trump.

It should have been the day when Trump and his eighteen co-defendants appeared in court one by one.

Fulton County Court Judge Scott McAfee had it all planned out. He scheduled hearings in Court 5a every 15 minutes during the day.

Instead, they all waived their right to a hearing and entered their not guilty pleas in writing. Since most lived out of state, it saved them a trip and a few hours of attorney fees.

Trump, like the others, has denied any wrongdoing and rejects allegations that he unlawfully sought to overturn the results of the Georgia election.

Instead of a media frenzy, McAfee was told by lawyers representing Chesebro and Powell as they filed their complex case for “dissolution” of each other.

Their lawyers argued that they should not be tried together, as they were charged with separate cases within a huge alleged conspiracy.

“The state wants to make this case about Donald Trump. Donald Trump is one of 19 defendants,” Chesebro’s attorney said.

Ken Chesebro is another one. Ken Chesbro is not a politician.

“Before six, seven months ago, he was probably unknown to 99.999 percent of the population. Do you have all those nines?

“And now forcing him to sit here in court, where there’s evidence for all these other things, just isn’t fair.”

Nine lawyers from Willis’ team took their seats on the first long public bench in the wood-paneled courtroom and watched the argument unfold.

Behind them were other lawyers monitoring the case for their clients, and a dozen journalists. A single TV camera beamed the events from the corner.

The judge was not impressed by the argument to split the Chesebro and Powell cases.

“Based on what has been presented today, I believe that the severance payment for Mr. Chesebro or Powell is not necessary to reach a fair determination of the guilt or innocence of either defendant in this case,” McAfee said.

He also admitted that he was skeptical that the entire trial of 19 could proceed as planned on October 23.

There were questions about “disposal,” he noted, with some defendants pushing to move their cases to federal court.

“It’s not easy and we have less than two months to sort this out,” he told prosecutors. “So I think it can be risky to jump ahead without thinking about it soon.”

The show’s star went missing after Trump waived his right to appear.

And he took advantage of his absence to launch a fundraising drive.

“Today my scheduled arraignment was supposed to be in Atlanta,” he said in an email appeal to his supporters.

“But I refuse to be part of the leftist television spectacle as they arm the justice system to try to make me look like a criminal and list more than a dozen false accusations against me on live TV.”

Instead, he urged his supporters to send him money.

Meanwhile, some of the legal arguments that could make or break his 2024 run for election played out in the spacious environs of Courtroom 5a. Itstands in a modern tower annex next to the Beaux Arts Courthouse that has towered over downtown Atlanta for more than a century.

During that time, it has had its fair share of high-profile cases.

It was here that Wayne Williams was convicted in 1981 of the murders of two men while being the prime suspect in the Atlanta Child Murders case of 22 dead children.

Football star Ray Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice after a double murder at a Super Bowl party in Atlanta in 2000.

And in 2005, Brian Nichols, charged with rape, kidnapping and assault, managed to overpower a sheriff’s deputy and confiscate her weapon. He shot and killed the judge during his trial, a court reporter and an ICE special agent before being hunted down and recaptured.

However, none are likely to compare to the spectacle of a former president and his associates on trial.

“This is going to be a circus like no other,” said a court official outside the building.