ATLANTA — The speed with which a jury was seated in the New York prosecution of Donald Trump likely won’t be matched in his yet-to-be-scheduled criminal trial in Fulton County, legal experts say.

Over just five days, a dozen jurors and six alternates were selected in Manhattan, where the former president faces 34 felony charges, accused of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up an alleged sex scandal. It is the first criminal trial against a former president, and the first of four that Trump faces.

Atlanta attorneys and law professors who are closely following the Trump cases say there are several reasons why jury selection in the election subversion case before Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee is likely to take longer than a week. They include multiple defendants, a lengthy trial and a different jury selection process.

Number of defendants

In Georgia, Trump is one of 15 remaining defendants facing trial on a range of criminal charges, including those brought under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act. In the New York hush money case, Trump is the only defendant.

“Having multiple defendants is going to complicate really every step of the proceedings, including jury selection,” said Andrew Jennings, a professor at Emory University School of Law. “When it comes to participating in the (jury selection) process, you’re going to have as many defense attorneys as there are defendants, and so more cooks in the kitchen will definitely slow down the process.”

It is widely expected that Trump and his co-defendants won’t all end up going to trial at the same time. Already four have pleaded guilty in the Georgia election case. But even a handful of codefendants can complicate things.

When jury selection began at the start of 2023 in the racketeering prosecution of rapper Young Thug and his “Young Slime Life” associates there were 14 defendants. Just six remained on trial after a jury was seated in November, as others had taken plea deals or had their cases severed. Still, jury selection took 10 months in the YSL case.

It took more than six weeks to select a jury in the the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial in 2014. Twelve people were changed in that racketeering case, which was spearheaded by then Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Fani Willis.

Trial length

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