Defense attorneys say they were blindsided by new evidence in ‘Stop Cop City' RICO case
A Fulton County judge is promising to streamline a complicated racketeering case with 61 defendants.
The charges stem from the Stop Cop City protests and the violence surrounding them.
Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that after two years, they'd found new evidence they wanted to introduce.
Defense attorneys thought that was very late in this process.
Prosecutors said law enforcement gave them new evidence in the case, and they tried to get it to the defense attorneys, more than 30 of them, as quickly as possible.
'For the first time ever, the state revealed that there's more evidence in this case. Fifty-seven gigabytes, actually,' defense attorney Xavier De Janon told the court.
That's an issue because Fulton County Judge Kevin Farmer severed all 61 cases and announced he'll start trying them in groups of five.
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The first in the series of trials could start as soon as June.
All 61 defendants and their lawyers crowded into courtroom 1D on Wednesday for what's called a status update.
They were given a May 30 deadline to file all their motions so the trial could finally begin.
Defendant Marlon Kautz insists the trial is politically motivated.
'As long as 61 people are facing decades in prison on RICO charges simply for being associated with a political movement, protest everywhere is chilled,' Kautz told Channel 2's Richard Elliot.
De Janon couldn't stress how complicated a RICO case with 61 defendants will be.
'It's no secret with all that, this case is extremely complex. 61 co-defendants, multiple allegations over multiple years,' De Janon said.
The state attorney general's office is trying this case.
Elliot reached out to that office for comment on this story, but so far, has not heard back from them.
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