A criminal case that was once viewed as the most open-and-shut prosecution against former President Donald Trump has been mired in delay, unresolved logistical questions and fringe legal arguments that appear to have hijacked the judge’s attention.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2020, has drawn out the case with an unusual, eyebrow-raising approach in her nearly 10-month oversight of the case, delaying rulings on what experts say are routine legal questions that must be resolved before the case can go to trial.
The longer it takes for Cannon to decide these issues, the more likely a trial would need to wait until after the November presidential election.
Prosecutors’ impatience was evident in fiery filings late Tuesday night, where special counsel Jack Smith said Cannon had asked for briefs that were premised on a “fundamentally flawed” understanding of the case that had “no basis in law or fact.”
Smith’s team previewed their desire to potentially appeal the dispute around how Cannon apparently views the case – which would further slowdown the timeline.
Regardless of whether they go that route, Smith has almost no options for speeding her up, as judges have nearly carte blanche authority to manage their dockets as they see fit.
“If the judge wants to drag it out, she can kind of drag it out,” said Alan Rozenshtein, a University of Minnesota Law School professor and former Justice Department attorney. “We invest enormous discretion in trial judges to run their cases, for better or for worse, and this case is – in that sense – like any other case.”
Frustration with how slowly a case is plodding along is nothing new in the criminal justice system, and slow-moving…
Read the full article here
