Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday filed a notice of appeal on a March ruling that dismissed six of the counts in the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others.
In March, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed six of the counts, saying they lacked sufficient details. They included three against Trump, who had faced 13 counts in the case and now faces 10.
The notice of appeal, known as a cross appeal, comes after the appeals court already agreed to take up Trump and his co-defendants’ appeal over their continued efforts to disqualify Willis from the case.
“The State files this notice of cross appeal within 15 days of the Defendants’ initial notices of appeal,” Thursday’s filing states.
ABC News contributor and former prosecutor Chris Timmons said the state essentially had an open opportunity to appeal, because the Court of Appeals is already looking at the case as it relates to the disqualification issue.
Former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court in New York, on Oct. 2, 2023.
Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Here, because the Court of Appeals is already taking the case, the State has nothing to lose from cross appealing,” said Timmons. “It won’t take any longer for the case to be decided.”
Trump and 18 others pleaded not guilty last August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia. Four defendants subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
The former president has blasted the district attorney’s investigation as being politically motivated.