# What happens if Trump is indicted in Georgia? (Indicted on August 14, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 17, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928 "2023-02-17T03:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 35
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/681 "2023-08-19T03:51:26Z")
Almost human… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/682 "2023-08-19T04:03:57Z")
That’s actually scary. He looks much more like a Mafia boss in that picture than he usually does. With his normal extreme combover he looks more like a simian creature of the jungle, possibly related to the orange marmoset – a creature that may indeed be dangerous, but just judging from its appearance is more funny than scary. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/683 "2023-08-19T10:08:37Z")
Brendan Gleeson, if he forgot how to smile. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/684 "2023-08-19T11:23:09Z")
> [@Mortimus](#): > > Almost human… … West Virginia … [sorry. Earworms are meant to be shared] ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/685 "2023-08-19T11:55:37Z")
🤣 RIP John Denver ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/686 "2023-08-19T15:13:15Z")
Moderating: Let’s be done with this hijack now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/687 "2023-08-19T15:15:51Z")
Ack! You too for that earworm? ETA – oh, sorry, didn’t see mod note. Back on topic, have there been any reports yet of grand jurors being harassed? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/688 "2023-08-19T15:17:03Z")
Moderating: > [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Ack! You too for that earworm? Please note the mod note directly above your post. This hijack is done. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/689 "2023-08-19T16:14:46Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Back on topic, have there been any reports yet of grand jurors being harassed? Nothing specific has been reported, but the FBI has become involved in investigating threats to the DA, the court clerks, the judge, and the jurors. Gift link. [https://wapo.st/3sfzrOi](https://wapo.st/3sfzrOi) ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/690 "2023-08-19T16:17:59Z")
Just read this [Washington Post article](https://wapo.st/3sfzrOi) (gift link) which goes into detail about the threats being made and law enforcement’s responses. Ah, jeez, ninja’d by **MulderMuffin**. I’m glad it’s being taken seriously but I fear there will be killings nonetheless, or at least some firebombings and direct harassment of some jurors. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/691 "2023-08-19T16:59:05Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > I’m glad it’s being taken seriously but I fear there will be killings nonetheless, or at least some firebombings and direct harassment of some jurors. I too am glad that it’s being taken seriously because you never know, but I don’t expect much action. MAGA folks really love to talk tough, but don’t often back it up. That might be why they like him so much, they identify with his style. We’ve seen some real damage done when people take it too far, but most often these are just threats. Again, threats themselves are serious because the damage caused by terrorizing people is real. But I can only think of a couple of times where people devoted to Trump have actually _acted_ in his name. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/692 "2023-08-19T23:54:58Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@Aspenglow](#): > > > > It was quite fascinating. Apparently, the burden of proof that you’re not going to be a problem child while on bail is on the defendant – which is unusual. Weissman seemed to feel Trump may struggle with the issue of not posing a threat of witness intimidation or tampering. Just read about this at [Salon](https://www.salon.com/2023/08/16/teflon-don-is-a-collective-fiction/) and then checked to see if it was previously discussed on the thread. It was, but maybe there is more to be said. Here’s the law: [Georgia Code Title 17](https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2022/title-17/chapter-6/article-1/section-17-6-1-d-1/) > [@](#): > > A court shall be authorized to release a person on bail if the court finds that the person . . . Poses no significant risk of intimidating witnesses . . . By itself, if the above quote is in context, it seems a slam dunk. Even if you bending over to give Trump a chance, at best you can imagine he might follow the judge’s cautions. You can’t reasonably think there is no significant risk of witness intimidation. However, in googling I found 1993 Georgia case law that could tie the judge’s hands: [We hold that the defendant has the burden of producing evidence on community ties, but the state has the burden of persuading by a preponderance of the evidence that a defendant is not entitled to release on bail.](https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/ayala-v-state-no-895747710) The way I read that, it is effectively up to the prosecutors to say there is a witness intimidation risk. If I was the prosecutor, I’d be thinking that jailing Trump to stop witness intimidation is pointless because he is going to attempt it from jail as well as from anywhere. So I wouldn’t make the intimidation risk case to the judge when Trump presumably surrenders next week. What do folks here think? Is that 1993 Supreme Court of Georgia decision still valid, or have small changes to the wording of the law, since then, invalidated it? If it is up to the judge, does [the judge](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/15/judge-scott-mcafee-georgia-trump-case/) have to literally go by the Georgia Code, or can he ignore that part when he thinks it would be too draconian? Because of the large number of defendants and charges, and with there being a [big backlog in Fulton County courts](https://www.ajc.com/news/fulton-county-makes-progress-on-court-backlog-but-harder-work-ahead/HWKX5AIWYNHVLOCG3CICUT3KB4/), Trump may not get his day in court there until 2025. I think it would grossly unfair to lock up anyone that long without a trial. But taking the Georgia law literally, it sounds like they can do that stuff, and maybe they are supposed to. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/693 "2023-08-19T23:58:22Z")
The likely way the Georgia court will handle Trump’s propensity to witness intimidation would be an order tightly restricting what he can say pretrial, with the threat of bail revocation if he violates the order. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/694 "2023-08-20T00:34:08Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > The likely way the Georgia court will handle Trump’s propensity to witness intimidation would be an order tightly restricting what he can say pretrial, with the threat of bail revocation if he violates the order. That’s what most states would do, and somehow I think you are correct. But the law says something else. And we are talking Georgia here. This was in the news last month: [A hung jury means a Georgia man jailed for 10 years must wait longer for a verdict on murder charges](https://apnews.com/article/albany-georgia-pretrial-detention-10-years-jail-1ddba613c37567ab09b4952cfc267f4a) > [@](#): > > A man who has been jailed in Georgia for 10 years while awaiting trial for a 2013 drive-by shooting that killed two people and injured others will have to keep waiting for a verdict. . . . > > Jimmerson’s co-defendant, Condell Benyard, was jailed for seven years while awaiting trial. He was found not guilty of all 26 charges brought against him. Just to be clear, I do NOT want Trump treated unfairly on grounds that others have been punished without a trial, or on any other grounds. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/695 "2023-08-20T00:42:31Z")
Correct. It would be easy to shave and would look better (to those who can stand to look at him at all.) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/696 "2023-08-20T00:48:35Z")
Damn it, I think I violated the Cease Hijacking order. Honest mistake, I apologize! ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/697 "2023-08-20T00:55:13Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Just to be clear, I do NOT want Trump treated unfairly on grounds that others have been punished without a trial, or on any other grounds. You can take it to the bank that Trump will not be treated unfairly. You can also take it to the bank that he will cry like a baby that he was treated unfairly. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/698 "2023-08-20T02:34:58Z")
But, if he _believes_ he is being treated unfairly, doesn’t that make it true? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/699 "2023-08-20T11:12:33Z")
[Trump’s new lawyer once donated to Fani Willis and usually represents rap artists.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66539826) He’s also been called “ a “Robin Hood with Jesus swag”. They’re really going to push the “free speech” defense. I hope he’s also ready for a “free work” defense. It occurs to me that if he wins every nincompoop who’s got a chance will be blurting “Aspirational ask” 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/700 "2023-08-20T11:44:01Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > If I’m listening to the radio in the car and a newsbite comes on with him speaking, I quickly turn it off (so I’ve maybe heard a word or two), and wait about 20 seconds until he’s likely done. For seven years and counting, I always do this, too! I’m sure we’re in good company, but this is the first time I’ve read someone spell it out clearly. /hijack [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=36)