Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, one of the 19 defendants charged in the DA’s indictment, has filed a request for a speedy trial — a development that a RICO expert says could have a “massive” impact on the case.
Chris Timmons, a former Georgia prosecutor who is an expert on Georgia racketeering laws — which are known as RICO for short — tells ABC News that when a defendant files a speedy trial demand, they have to be tried within a certain amount of time, or they are acquitted by law.
Though it’s not immediately clear what the exact effect will be in this case, Timmons said that many of the defendants won’t be ready for trial that quickly, meaning the case could end up having multiple trials.
“That completely changes the strategy of this trial,” Timmons said.
Referring to his time as a prosecutor, Timmons said, “We used to view [speedy trial requests] as a declaration of war. It means you are ready to go now.”
Cheseboro, a former Trump-aligned attorney, faces seven counts in the indictment, which alleges that he outlined “multiple strategies for disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”
