Jury selection begins for 1st trial in Georgia election interference case

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on October 20, 2023

(ATLANTA) — Jury selection for the first trial in the Fulton County district attorney’s election interference case began Friday morning.

Kenneth Chesebro is facing seven counts after opting for a speedy trial following the indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others in August.

Chesebro was scheduled to be tried alongside former Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who also opted for a speedy trial, but she took a plea deal Thursday.

Prosecutors say Chesebro drafted a strategy to use so-called “alternate electors” to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes in the 2020 election, according to the Fulton County DA’s indictment.

Judge Scott McAfee officially began the jury selection process as he addressed a batch of prospective jurors on the seventh floor of the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta.

“The lawyers in this case have estimated that trial will last 4-5 months,” McAfee told them.

Four hundred and fifty prospective jurors had been subpoenaed to report to the Fulton County courthouse Friday morning in order fill out a jury questionnaire to determine if they were eligible to sit on the jury.

Questioning of the jurors is scheduled to begin Monday.

Chesebro, Powell, Trump, and 16 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the state of Georgia.

Defendant Scott Hall last month also took a plea deal in the case.