Willis’s bold and ambitious gambits catapulted her to the national spotlight, but both of these big, pivotal prosecutions have gone off the rails this summer, with the Trump case in legal limbo and the now-postponed Yves Saint Laurent trial in uncertainty.
Former Gwinnett District Attorney Danny Porter places blame on the Fulton District Attorney’s office. “Both of these cases fell into the ditch because of the direct actions of the district attorney herself, or anyone on her staff,” he said. “…Mr. Fani must feel devastated.”
Willis and his allies say these developments are not a reflection of the district attorney’s leadership. Some point to missteps by the judge who oversaw the 19-month YSL trial, who was removed from the case earlier this week. Others blame the rancorous nature of the hotly contested criminal prosecution.
“What some people see as problems, I think those of us who have practiced as prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers, are just procedural. We’re going to have challenges,” said Charlie Bailey, a friend and former colleague of Willis’s, an attorney whose wife works in the district attorney’s office.
In a statement provided to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Willis said: Overwhelming victory The victory in the May Democratic Primary election demonstrates that Fulton residents trust the District Attorney’s Office to protect their community.
“I have always kept my oath to protect my constituents every time I make a charging decision,” she said. “I repeat: no one is above responsibility or beyond the protection of the law. As long as I am District Attorney, charging decisions in every case handled by this office will be made based on the facts and the law, without regard to race, religion, sex, socio-economic status, political affiliation or outside sensationalism.”
Trump’s prosecutorial troubles
Trump’s case stalled because Willis was romantically involved with Nathan Wade, the outside lawyer he hired as special prosecutor and paid more than $700,000. Famous lawyers Prosecutors used the relationship to argue that Willis had a conflict of interest and launched a months-long campaign to disqualify the prosecutor and his office.
They failed, but now the slow-moving appeal judges intervened.
Credit: Jason Getz / [email protected]
of State Court of Appeals An appeal was not necessary and the case could have gone to trial, but an appeal was agreed to be heard in May and was recently scheduled. Oral arguments will be heard on Dec. 5, one month after the November election. The appeals court also Most of the proceedings in the case have been halted.
If Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee reverses his March ruling that allowed Willis to stay. The appeals court could take the Trump case out of Willis’ hands entirely.
The appeals court is almost certain to rule early next year, possibly after the inauguration in January. Legal experts say that if Republican candidate Trump is re-elected president, Opinion is divided on whether Willis can continue. To prosecute while he was in office.
Court hearing “was a bad idea”
The other major case, the YSL trial, was already the longest-running case in Georgia history. When Fulton prosecutors asked Judge Ural Granville to hold an in-court hearing with reluctant state witness Kenneth Copeland, the defense, finding itself excluded from the hearing, objected and asked Judge Granville to recuse itself.
Glanville categorically denied the motion to recuse himself. On Tuesday, Fulton Judge Rachel Krauss issued a statement explaining his subsequent actions: The basis for removing him from the caseHe was replaced by Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker.
Judge Whitaker indicated at Friday’s hearing that he intends to preside and proceed with the trial, but that he will first consider motions and hear arguments from the state and defense over the next two weeks. What threatens the case, however, is the possibility that the defense could seek a mistrial, based primarily on the court proceedings and Judge Glanville’s subsequent actions. If such a motion were filed and granted, the case would have to be started over.
Credit: Seger Gray/AJC
Credit: Seger Gray / AJC
In his order, Judge Kraus wrote that the in-court conference “could and probably should have been held in open court,” which would have meant that defense lawyers would have been present. “There is nothing inherently impropriety about the facts of the conference or the matters discussed.”
Willis’ supporters saw the latter point as evidence that the prosecution made no mistakes, but some outside observers disagree.
“This is a responsibility of the district attorney’s office,” said Decatur attorney Bob Rubin. “There is absolutely no reason why the prosecutors could not have required the defense team, or a representative of the defense team, to be present when questioning Mr. Copeland. Any decent prosecutor would do that. … I don’t understand how this could have happened.”
“It was a bad idea,” agreed Porter, the former Gwinnett district attorney, “and if that was the prosecutor’s idea, to me it would make things even worse.”
“Losing a generation”
Willis remains highly popular in Fulton. Won an easy victory He won 87% of the vote in the Democratic primary in May. Courtney KramerHe is a little-known Republican lawyer who previously worked for President Trump and helped Georgia Republicans challenge the election results.
During the primary election, Willis Pointing out a decline in violent crimes The Atlanta case is evidence that her prosecutorial approach works, especially when it comes to gangs. He also points out other successes that have received less attention.
The Fulton District Attorney’s Gang Unit has secured 169 convictions in 2023 and 76 convictions so far in 2024. Rayshawn Bennetta rapper known as YFN Lucci, and his associates. Prosecutors said YFN was a rival gang to YSL and that the two groups were causing chaos in the city.
“If we don’t stop this, we stand to lose a generation,” Willis said. In 2022, he spoke more broadly about gangs.“People are just starting to acknowledge that we have a gang problem here in Fulton County.”
Prosecutors have cited Jayden Myrick’s case as an example of the toll that gang issues take. disconnected During the Young Thug trial, he Groomed He was subjected to violence by older members of his gang from the age of 9 or 10. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole following his July 2018 sentence. Robbery and deadly shooting Photo of wedding guests outside the country club.
Former Fulton prosecutor Tanya Miller defended Willis’ performance so far. The focus should be on what Willis is trying to accomplish in the Yves Saint Laurent and Trump cases.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“On one side you have murder, mayhem, robbery, shootings, aggravated assault, you name it,” said Miller, now an attorney and Democratic state representative. “And on the other side you have people at the highest levels of government who allegedly engaged in wrongdoing to steal our democracy. In my opinion, she’s just doing what the people of Fulton County expected her to do.”
Others see the circumstances of the YSL case as a downside to Willis embracing Georgia’s RICO statute and pursuing a large lawsuit with multiple defendants.
“One of the big questions of the case is why the trial process took so long when other jurisdictions could have moved a trial of this size and complexity more efficiently,” Roswell attorney Joshua Schiffer said. “Large trials and large prosecutions are commonplace. The defense’s ability to delay, impede and thwart the state’s prosecution speaks to the caliber of criminal defense lawyers and the responsibility of the prosecutors who got us to this point.”
University of Georgia law professor Melissa Redmon said it’s too early to tell whether RICO was the right approach in either the election or the YSL case, but she said it made sense for prosecutors to use it based on the alleged criminal conduct.
“As crimes evolve and as ways of committing crimes evolve, I think prosecutors are going to have to adapt accordingly,” said Redmon, who worked in the Fulton District Attorney’s Office. “And I think that may be an approach that people don’t like, especially if it’s successful.”
Former DeKalb District Attorney Robert James said the delays in two cases that have attracted national attention are unfortunate.
“It’s not a good look,” but at the same time, the two incidents “didn’t completely blow up,” he said.
When asked how he would feel if he were in Willis’ position, James replied, “I would be frustrated. I would be annoyed. I would be angry. But at the end of the day, this is a fight I started. I have no choice but to see it through to the end. I have no choice to back down. I have no choice to surrender.”
