The law is not only slow, it can be tedious even boring, especially when procedural wrangling is involved. I watched yesterday’s Georgia RICO case hearing. It was on the dry side and only important to two defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell aka Cheese & Kraken. They are not, however, as tasty as cheese and crackers.
The most important thing about the Cheese & Kraken hearing was that it was televised. I think all the Trump trials should be televised. I wrote an open letter to Chief Justice Roberts on that subject. There’s no movement there: Roberts is too busy ducking subpoenas and ignoring Sam the Sham Alito’s antics to move on cameras in the courtroom.
Repeat after me: Televise it, Chief.
The view from Judge Scott McAfee’s courtroom was so-so. There appeared to be only one camera, so what we saw was mostly the backs of lawyer heads. None of them had what Dr. A’s late mother called shapely heads. In fact, the shaved head lawyer representing The Cheese had a crease so deep it looked as if he’d ironed it before coming to court. I hope we’ll be able to see more than bald spots and head creases when the case goes to trial.
The one face we were able to see was that of Judge McAfee. He’s what one of my favorite law professors would have called a baby judge. He’s 34-years-old and has only been a judge for 7 months. Having said that, he was smart, poised, polite, and decisive. He ruled against the motions to sever the Cheese & Kraken cases on the spot, which is a good sign. He’s a Federalist Society guy and former prosecutor, but as long as he’s a fair trial judge that shouldn’t matter. He doesn’t appear to be a Trumpier than thou jurist like Judge Cannon in Florida. One thing I dig about McAfee is that he attended Emory University on a cello scholarship. I am not making this up.
MacAfee was “very skeptical” of the prosecution’s claim that they will be able to try 19 defendants by October of this year. I am too. There are practical and logistical challenges to trying that many defendants so soon. The Secret Service will have to sign off on any plan and I’m not sure McAfee’s courtroom can seat that many defendants and lawyers.
Prosecutors claimed that they’ll be able to try the case in 4 months. I’m skeptical of this claim as they plan to call 150 witnesses. The law is slow and RICO cases are even slower. Stay tuned.
Neither The Cheese nor the Kraken Lady were present at the hearing. His desire NOT to be tried alongside the queen of team crazy was thwarted by the judge. The Cheese might benefit from the contrast but who can blame him for not wanting her crazy to rub off on him? They’re like this song by the Fake Beatles:
How perfect is that? A Fake Beatles song dedicated to the architect of the fake electors scam.
The Kraken Lady has her own song:
I cannot believe I just posted a song by a band called Ninja Sex Party. Oy, just oy.
The Cheese & Kraken hearing confirmed my belief that the Georgia RICO case is a procedural nightmare. Now that I’ve seen the judge in action, I’ll read about future hearings. I’ve seen enough of the backs of attorney heads to last until the trial itself.
The original title of this post was Wading In The Georgia Stream. It’s going to be a long and winding road to trial and beyond. The last word goes, not to The Beatles, but to The Carter Family followed by stepsisters Carlene Carter and Rosanne Cash: