The fate of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the Donald Trump state RICO case has been decided by Judge Scott McAfee… and he got it right. McAfee’s denial in part and granting in part of the defendants’ motion to disqualify was a sound decision grounded in the proper legal standard in Georgia, as well as on the evidence that was entered into the record during the course of a multi-day, multi-hour evidentiary hearing.
Although his ruling was sharply critical of Willis’ judgment in her personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade and of her demeanor on the witness stand during the hearing, ultimately McAfee ruled that there was no actual conflict of interest and despite an appearance of impropriety, it could be cured by the selection of one of the following options: either Willis and her office steps down or Wade withdraws.
Now that McAfee has finally issued his ruling, the case can get back on track, proceed with further discovery, motion practice, and hopefully finally be set for trial.
As a part of his decision-making process, McAfee evaluated the credibility of all of the witnesses who took an oath to tell the truth and offered testimonial evidence during the course of the hearing.
One of the biggest questions that has now been answered by McAfee’s decision is which legal standard he would apply to this disqualification motion. Several of us argued that legal precedent required that he determine if there was the existence of an actual conflict of interest on Willis’ part — an “actual conflict of interest” being defined as the prosecutor having “acquired a personal interest or stake in the defendant’s conviction.” This conflict of interest under the law must be actual, not theoretical or speculative.
Counsel for the defendants, on the other hand, argued that the appearance of a conflict of interest by a prosecutor was sufficient to sustain disqualification. In the end, Judge McAfee explicitly ruled that there was…
Read the full article here
