By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on August 26, 2023
An Editorial Opinion
Here are the world's best known criminal defendants today, courtesy of Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani T. Willis. She brought them all together in one case. Over the next few months and years, they will get to know each other very well.
State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump, et. al., will be the most watched RICO trial in U.S. history.
As a retired criminal defense lawyer who holds the U.S. record for defeating the most felony counts (85) in a single-defendant criminal case (U.S. v. Richard M. Scrushy), I plan to sit back and enjoy watching the televised legal battles between Fani T. Willis and these 19 criminal defendants in a Fulton County courtroom (a/k/a the "gladiator pit").
What Makes a Tough Prosecutor?
I have met and defeated plenty of good prosecutors in the gladiator pit during my 48 years as a criminal defense attorney. The best and toughest ones were smart, well prepared, experienced, courageous, and female.
Fani T. Willis
Of the three prosecutors in Donald Trump's four criminal cases, Fani T. Willis poses the greatest threat to his freedom. Willis is the best and most prepared prosecutor I have seen in my entire legal career. She is smart, strategic, focused, courageous, and highly experienced. Every fiber of her body exudes confidence on her ability to fight in the gladiator pit.
Jack Smith
I have personally interacted with Special Counsel Jack Smith on behalf of my client Milton McGregor, and I was not impressed with him. Smith lost on all of the 39 felony counts his prosecution team tried in U.S. v. Milton McGregor (2010 to 2011), a criminal conspiracy and bribery case.
I published an article about my personal experiences with Jack Smith in McGregor's case. He is a highly overrated federal prosecutor.
If Smith litigated cases as a defense attorney, as opposed to a prosecutor in what Trump calls the "rigged" federal criminal justice system, he would get his ass kicked all day long.
From what I have seen to date, none of the defense attorneys in Donald Trump's Miami or Washington, D.C. federal criminal cases has the skills, experience, and ability to kick Jack Smith's ass.
Alice Martin
It took everything I had in me as a gladiator to battle U.S. Attorney Alice Martin and win on all 85 felony counts in former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy's fraud case (2003 to 2005). Alice Martin and I fought each other in Scrushy’s case for two very long years. I was totally exhausted at the end of Scrushy's case, and I never wanted to fight Alice Martin again.
To this day, I respect and admire Alice Martin as one of the smartest and toughest federal prosecutors in America.
Unlike most prosecutors, Alice Martin actually led her troops into battle and bled with them on the battlefield. She actively participated in the pre-trial hearings and examined witnesses during the six-month trial. She directed the government’s litigation strategies and in-court battles, from start to finish. She was a fierce, skilled, smart, and well-trained adversary.
Fani T. Willis embodies much of Alice Martin's tough, aggressive, participatory spirit and approach in Trump's criminal case.
Will Fani T. Willis Win Trump's Case?
Today, I do not know of any criminal defense lawyer who has the knowledge, skills, ability, and experience to beat Fani T. Willis in her RICO case against Trump. Willis is the real deal. She is a gladiator of the first order.
The defense lawyers hired in this RICO case thus far do not have a chance of beating Willis. They simply lack the skills and experience required to compete with Fani Willis, and win. Willis is in a league of her own.
There is going to be a bloodbath in the Fulton County gladiator pit, but Fani T. Willis will not be the gladiator who bleeds out.
Based upon my professional training and experience in the gladiator pit, I already know who will win this courtroom fight -- Fani T. Willis!
I looked at the roundup and there was one glaring omission...Stacey Abrams.
"""Stacey Abrams: I know you've heard from a lot of folks, and I think some of you know what I'm going to say. We had this little election back in 2018 and, despite the final tally and the inauguration and the situation we find ourselves in, I do have one very affirmative statement to make. We won."""
Stacy Abrams under oath testified in congress that her "get out the vote team" violated the "Georgia law stating that no politicking within 150 feet of a polling place
So why do we have selective enforcement? 1 vote can make a difference as it did in a recent AL state senat…