President Donald Trump could recoup millions of dollars he spent on legal costs to defend himself against election interference charges in Fulton County under a measure that is headed to the governor’s desk.
Senate Bill 244 would allow criminal defendants to collect reasonable attorney fees and costs if a prosecutor is disqualified from the case for misconduct and the case is dismissed. The bill, which passed the Senate on Friday by a vote of 35-18, also would standardize the process for compensating people who have been wrongly convicted in criminal offenses. It has already passed the House.
Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, has said he proposed the measure to ensure that Trump and his 14 fellow defendants can collect attorney fees and costs if Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is ultimately disqualified from the election case. The Georgia Court of Appeals disqualified Willis in December, citing her romantic relationship with a top prosecutor in the case. Willis has appealed that decision to the Georgia Supreme Court.
On Friday, Beach — who was recently tapped as U.S. treasurer by Trump — said the president and his codefendants deserve compensation from a case he said was politically motivated.
“These people have a right to get their reputation back and have compensation,” Beach said after the Senate vote.
Most Democrats opposed the measure, saying it would unfairly burden Fulton County taxpayers and reward Trump, who sought to overturn Democrat Joe Biden’s Georgia victory in 2020.
“We should not be paying Donald Trump’s legal fees for trying to break the law in this state,” said Rep. RaShaun Kemp, D-Atlanta.
The bill combined two measures — compensating Trump and compensating people who are wrongfully convicted. That scrambled partisan loyalties for some; three Democrats voted in support.
Willis indicted Trump and 18 other defendants in 2023 on racketeering and other charges for their roles in trying to overturn Biden’s victory. Four people later pleaded guilty to various charges
But last year defense attorneys disclosed evidence that Willis was romantically involved with a top special prosecutor, Nathan Wade. The defense attorneys argued that posed a conflict of interest for Willis because Wade benefited financially from the case and paid for some trips the couple took together.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
If the Supreme Court upholds a lower court’s decision to remove Willis, Beach believes Trump and the other defendants could recoup their legal fees. Campaign disclosures show Trump has paid his top attorneys in the case about $2.7 million. The Georgia Republican Party also has paid at least $2 million in legal costs for some of the other defendants.
Under Beach’s bill, the bills would be paid by Fulton County.
The other part of SB 244 — establishing a new process for compensating people who are proven to have been wrongfully convicted — has been a longtime goal of a bipartisan group of legislators.
The bill aims to fix what lawmakers have called a “very laborious process” that can sometimes become political and that many are often hesitant to get involved with.
Under Georgia’s current process, once a judge or prosecutor has thrown out the charges against someone who had been convicted, they must find a legislator who is willing to sponsor a resolution that would compensate them, a process that often gets bogged down by politics.
They must also present their case to an advisory board under the secretary of state’s office that does not have guidelines for wrongful conviction compensation.
SB 244 would allow someone who has been exonerated to file a claim with the Office of State Administrative Hearings.
That claim would be evaluated by an administrative law judge, and if the person who’d been released from prison can prove their innocence, they would be eligible to receive $75,000 in state funds per year of incarceration. Those who served time on death row would be eligible for more. The General Assembly would have to include any payment in the state budget.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
State Rep. Katie Dempsey, a Republican from Rome who sponsored the legislation that became the language in SB 244, said it was not easy for the men who’ve been waiting years to be compensated by a state that had wrongfully taken decades from their lives.
“Now we have another opportunity, hopefully, if the governor does sign it, to allow for them to have a true chance that is not a retrial from legislators but from a judge really valuing the opinion of other judges,” she said.
SB 244 now goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.
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