By Kate Brumback | Associated Press
ATLANTA — The Georgia judge overseeing the election subversion case against former President Donald Trump and others said Tuesday he plans to modify the bond conditions for one of the defendants after prosecutors complained about his social media posts that mentioned witnesses and co-defendants.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis made a rare appearance in the courtroom to argue for the revocation of the bond of Harrison Floyd, who was a leader in the organization Black Voices for Trump. He was one of 18 people accused along with the former president of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally try to overturn the 2020 election.
Willis filed a motion last week asking Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to revoke Floyd’s bond. In her first in-person appearance in this case since the indictment, she argued that Floyd has been attempting to intimidate and contact likely witnesses and his co-defendants in violation of the terms of his release.
Floyd’s lawyers argued that his social media posts are constitutionally protected speech and that he was in no way trying communicate with or intimidate any witness or co-defendant.
McAfee said there is no constitutional right to bail and that bond orders can contain conditions that curtail a defendant’s rights, but he also noted that people are generally allowed to publicly criticize the merits of the case but cannot cross a line. He said Floyd appears “very boldly willing to explore where that line is” in this case.
McAfee said he did believe Floyd’s bond conditions need to be modified. He said he would give the lawyers some time to discuss proposed conditions and said he would check in with the two sides around 5 p.m.
McAfee said he didn’t believe that Floyd’s posts amounted to intimidation, pointing out that they didn’t include posting of personal information or any explicit wording that something should be done about the people he mentioned. But…
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