The federal decide overseeing former President Donald J. Trump’s prosecution on expenses of illegally retaining dozens of categorized paperwork set a trial date on Friday for May 2024, taking a center place between the federal government’s request to go to trial in December and Mr. Trump’s want to push the continuing till after the 2024 election.
In her order, Judge Aileen M. Cannon mentioned the trial was to be held in her residence courthouse in Fort Pierce, Fla., a coastal metropolis two-and-a-half hours north of Miami that may draw its jury pool from a number of counties that Mr. Trump received handily in his two earlier presidential campaigns.
Judge Cannon additionally laid out a calendar of hearings, all through the rest of this yr and into subsequent yr, together with these regarding the dealing with of the categorized materials on the coronary heart of the case.
The scheduling order got here after a contentious listening to on Tuesday on the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce the place prosecutors working for the particular counsel, Jack Smith, and attorneys for Mr. Trump sparred over when to carry the trial.
The timing of the continuing is extra vital on this case than in most legal issues as a result of Mr. Trump is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and his authorized obligations to be in court docket will intersect together with his marketing campaign schedule.
Indeed, the date Judge Cannon selected to begin the trial — May 20, 2024 — is at some point earlier than the first in the important thing swing state of Georgia. But it falls after the majority of the first race contests could have already taken place.
Source: www.nytimes.com