The link to the first in this series: Introduction
Links to previous updates can be found at the conclusion of this latest update.
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This tracker is a ready reference for what’s happening when and where in the legal whirlpool engulfing Trump and the motley collection of felons in his criminal orbit.
This is the second update and our theme is ‘ACDC’ because the most significant action of the day has taken place in the Special Counsel’s DC case with Judge Tanya Chutkan setting the start date for trial on March 4, 2024.
DA Fani Willis’ proposed date for her RICO trial is also March 4. However, this apparent conflict is expected to be resolved with Georgia Judge Scott McAfee choosing alternative dates. He’s already set an early date for Bracket 1 defendants requesting a speedy trial. Refer to the mugshot album for snippets of information about each co-conspirator to get a feel for which crook is which.
Mark Meadows took the stand in his hearing today to determine whether or not he can have his trial moved to federal court. As of publication, we’re still awaiting Judge Steve Jones’s ruling. The prediction that the Judge will decide against Meadows agrees with the opinion of everyone else with the notable exception of Meadows himself.
The key allocates a colour to each case to enable faster scanning for those who want to follow the progress of a particular case or to see at a glance how many different cases are packed into each month. It also provides a quick overview of all seven cases that are currently active with the prosecutors/litigants who brought the case and the judges presiding over them. As the 19 RICO co-defendants split into trial groups, those appearing together will be bracketed in the same group and their bracket number will appear on the calendar.
We begin with the current month. The only addition here is Meadows’ hearing.
The major update this month concerns the arraignment timetable for the RICO case in Georgia. Instead of DA Willis’ proposed 4 days, Judge McAfee decided to schedule everyone on the same day in 15-minute slots.
Just as I was about to publish, The Guardian reported that Ray Smith had opted to waive his arraignment. This means the defendant has requested leave to forgo the arraignment procedure and register his plea in a court filing instead. As yet, there’s no word regarding Judge McAfee’s ruling on the matter so this is another wait-and-see moment. If he accedes to Smith’s request, the Judge will have 15 minutes available for an afternoon cup of tea and a cookie.
October is the month in which New York AG Letitia James will take the Trump Organisation to court for fraudulent business practices. This will be a trial to watch because, when Judge Engoron rules for the government, he’s likely to impose heavy financial penalties and severely restrict the company’s business operations in the state. He may even shutter the business altogether. It’s also possible that criminal charges might arise from this trial.
November remains blank. An apparent conflict in December has been resolved by Judge Chutkan’s decision to begin the Jan 6 trial in March thereby moving jury selection to a probable date in February.
The Special Counsel team’s proposed date for January has been dropped from this month now that Judge Chutkan has weighed in.
February remains blank but is likely to score pretrial hearings for Judge Chutkan now that she’s set an early March trial date for the Special Counsel’s Jan 6 case. Thus far, she has yet to announce further hearing dates. From Hugo Lowell in The Guardian:
She said she planned to question both the former president’s attorneys and prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith’s team, and reiterated that Trump will have to yield to the criminal process – potentially bad news for his hopes to forestall the trial till after the 2024 election.
She also warned Trump and his lawyers to “take special care” in avoiding public statements that could be seen as intimidating witnesses or prejudicing potential jurors.
March is not going to be a happy month for Trump.
Keep a watchful eye out for further updates, Zoomers!
Links to previous updates:
UPDATE 1: August 26
Pictured in the feature image, from left to right:
Top: DA Alvin Bragg, DA Fani Willis, NY AG Letitia James, Special Counsel Jack Smith
Mid: Judge Aileen Cannon (stolen documents), Justice Arthur Engoron (Trump Org falsifying business records – Manhattan), Judge Juan Merchan (Trump Org fraudulent business practices – NY AG), Judge Lorna Scofield (Trump Org pyramid scheme – class action suit), Judge Scott McAfee (RICO case, Georgia), Judge Lewis Kaplan (E Jean Carroll’s second defamation suit), Judge Tanya Chutkan (Jan 6 case, DC)
If you see or hear of any firm or proposed dates, please let me know in the comments or on social media. You can find me on Twitter as @Mopshell, on Post and Mastodon as @michelle_elle, on Spoutible as @MichelleElle and Michelle Elle on Creative Sprints on Tuesday, 4pm-7pm EST, Creative Sprints on Wednesday, 4pm-7pm EST and Creative Sprints on Thursday, 4pm-7pm EST.
This article has great potential to be turned into a book series…
of 35-50 volumes.
Yeah, there’s going to be quite a few of them before we’re done! I’m hoping indictments of members of Congress can be added soon. I want to see all those involved in the planning of Jan 6 pay for their seditious betrayal of democracy and fairness. I don’t care how much extra work that might mean for me. I shall tackle it with gusto!
Phew! I’m breathless! The sports bracket reference is helpful for focus.
I also realised, but not until after posting this update, that people don’t realise it’s a second update because it has the same feature image as the introduction to the series and the first update. So now I’m working on a bunch of new feature images for future updates so people recognise at a glance that it’s different.
what does it mean to “waive” your arraignment? I thought that was an integral part of the court process.
So did I, Nancy. This is a new one for me too. What it means is that the defendant requests leave to forgo the arraignment procedure and registers their plea in a court filing instead. As I understand it, Judge Scott McAfee hasn’t accepted it yet. In fact, I’ll add this comment to the text because I’m sure you and I are not the only ones unfamiliar with this term.
Thank you very much for your comment.
Amongst other ‘pokes in the eye’ for the ‘Criminal-In- Chief’ your “… March is not going to be a happy month for Trump…” just maybe equate to misfortune and doom as in ‘The Ides of March’ for the stable genius.
Your work here is really taking shape. Clearly fit for purpose, context specific, factually based and logically presented. Maintain the rage and its integrity.
I’m already working on the next update. This time I’m going to vary the feature images. I discovered that, when people saw the same image for the second update as for the first, they didn’t read it because they thought they’d already seen it. Image is more impactful than text.