So, let's talk about the Georgia Court of Appeals. Now that Judge McAfee has granted the certificate of immediate review for the disqualification of Fani Willis, what's the process? The application for an interlocutory appeal will be randomly assigned to a judge. From there...
it will be assigned to a staff attorney who will review the application and any supporting materials. That attorney will provide a memo providing a recommendation to the judge on whether the appeal should be granted or denied. The court has 45 days to act, so decisions are quick.
Court of Appeals Rule 30(a) provides factors that favor review. The most important one here will be whether there is a need to establish clear precedent to refine and guide the trial court. Defendants will have to argue that precedent is insufficient *and* this is a good vehicle.
The other key is this: is there *reversible error*? Even if there might be a need for some clarification around the law, the COA may not necessarily see the need to step in and reverse Judge McAfee if they think he essentially got it right. That may be the biggest hurdle for Ds.
Appeals are heard by a three-judge panel. Only one judge on a panel needs to agree to hear the appeal. All three are thus required to agree to deny it.
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