Harrison William Prescott Floyd, who is accused of molesting a Fulton County poll worker, failed to negotiate his bail in advance and was jailed Thursday. Maryland federal court filings show that Floyd, a former Marine and member of the group Black Voices for Trump, was arrested three months ago for aggressively assaulting two FBI agents who accused him of a crime in front of a grand jury wanted to deliver a summons.
In the next few steps, Fulton County Superior Court Justice Scott McAfee will schedule hearing dates where each defendant will be formally read the charges against them and plead guilty or not guilty, although this is not unusual for a defendant in Georgia is to refrain from this process.
The case brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is large and the logistics of the process are likely to be complex. Some of the accused have already taken legal action.
Three of them – former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows; former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark; and former Georgia Republican Party leader David Shafer want to take their cases to federal court. A judge will hear arguments on those motions on Monday and September 18. There is speculation that Trump will also attempt to go to federal court.
One defendant, Attorney Kenneth Chesebro, has filed a suit for expedited trial. He is accused of helping to coordinate and implement a plan that would have 16 Georgia Republicans erroneously write in writing stating that Trump had won and that they were the “duly elected and certified” members of the Georgia electoral college. This means that the process must start before the beginning of November. A day after making that request, prosecutor Willis suggested the trial begin on October 23, after saying she wanted to try the 19 defendants together.
On the same day, Trump’s attorney, Steve Sadow, objected to that date and the March 2024 date originally proposed by Willis. He called for the Trump case to be separated from the Chesebros case and all other defendants, who were seeking a speedy trial.
With information from TSUT.