Overview
- Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee granted a limited extension, giving the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia until noon on Nov. 14 to appoint a district attorney pro tempore.
- The council had sought about 110 days—roughly four weeks to obtain the case file and 90 days to review it—citing the case’s size, complexity, 21 pending appointments, and hundreds of conflict referrals.
- McAfee said he would consider an order to compel faster transfer of the investigative file from the disqualified Fulton County District Attorney’s Office after the council said it cannot vet candidates without the file.
- Defendants including John Eastman and Misty Hampton opposed a lengthy delay and the judge previously warned the indictment could be dismissed for want of prosecution absent a timely appointment or justified extension.
- The appointment process follows the Georgia Court of Appeals’ disqualification of DA Fani Willis over an appearance of impropriety tied to her relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, and the state high court’s refusal to hear her appeal.