Civil and Human Rights Attorney Robert Patillo has questioned the "functioning" of Fulton County's court system, as Donald Trump continues to face indictments by the state.
The former US President is facing legal challenges relating to fraud and interference in the 2020 election, of which he has always denied wrongdoing.
Appearing on GBN America, Patillo criticised the "dysfunctional judiciary system" in the US and said "any system where a defendant has to sit for four or five, even six years waiting for their case to go to trial" is "clearly not a functional judiciary system".
Patillo said the alleged incidents, which took place in 2020, are "now being seen in 2024", and looks likely that a trial "will not take place until 2025 at the earliest".
Robert Patillo says the US has a 'dysfunctional judiciary system'
Reuters / GBN America
Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the case, has warned Trump that the "train is coming", despite his efforts to have her disqualified from the proceedings.
Willis told the former Potus (President of the United States): "I don’t feel like we have been slowed down at all."
Former US President Donald Trump has blamed the legal challenges on 'election interference'
Reuters
In discussion with GBN America host Mark Dolan, Patillo said the fight between Willis and Trump is a "micro case", but the bigger issue of the case taking four years to be brought to court is a "macro issue of the lack of functionality within our criminal justice system".
Patillo explained: "We have the Eighth Amendment in America that guarantees us a prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. I contend that it's cruel and unusual punishment for any defendant, whether it be President Trump or anyone on the street, to have to wait five or six years for their case to go to trial. That's why I'm running to try to change that system."
Mark questioned whether the judge "accepting that Fani Willis lied" but accepting "the rest of her testimony as fact" is "problematic" for the case and Fulton County's court system.
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Patillo said: "This is part of the concern that many voters have within the county. They feel that a regular defendant would not have this sort of hearing. They had two weeks of hearings on whether or not the prosecutor will be disqualified.
"Essentially, in a case where time is of the essence and has been delayed by close to two months from going to proceedings, I think that anybody in that situation, if you are a defendant or if you are somebody sitting in jail waiting for trial, this is absorbing hundreds of thousands of dollars of state resources."
He continued: "Other people's cases can't be heard, and this is not the way that other people would be treated in this situation."
Calling for a "court system that is fair across the board", Patillo said he is fighting for "everyone to have an equal opportunity to have their cases heard" in the county.
Robert Patillo says America needs a 'fair court system across the board'
GBN America
When asked if Fani Willis staying on the case will "make it easier" for Donald Trump to appeal should he be convicted, Patillo said that is "not necessarily the case".
He explained: "The prosecutor represents the the state of Georgia, or the state of Georgia and Fulton County in these cases, regardless of what goes on with that individual prosecutor, unless there's a determination that they acted improperly in securing a conviction, then that will not be justification for an appeal.
"However, we do have this issue of the institutional legitimacy of the court system, and whether or not people believe that the court system is administered in a fair and equitable fashion.
"Once you start losing that, then you erode the belief within our constitutional system, our constitutional republic."
