ATLANTA – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office cannot continue to prosecute the Georgia election interference case involving President-elect Donald Trump, the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled.

However, the court declined to dismiss the case itself. The decision will likely be appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court.

“Although this is the rare case in which Attorney Willis and her office must be disqualified based on a substantial appearance of impropriety, we cannot conclude that the record also requires the imposition of the extreme sanction of dismissal of the indictment under the appropriate standard.” supported,” the appeals court judges wrote. The three-member jury voted 2-1 to disqualify Willis.

The case has been in disarray since Willis admitted to having a personal relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had hired on the case.

A trial court ruled in March 2024 that given the allegations of misconduct, Willis could only remain in the case if Wade resigned from his position. Several defendants appealed the verdict and the proceedings have largely been halted since this summer.

Trump is unlikely to be tried before 2029, if at all. Trump’s lawyers have separately asked the courts to dismiss his charges entirely after he was elected president.

The Georgia case represents the last remaining criminal charges against Trump.

Whatever happens with Trump’s Georgia charges, the 14 other remaining co-defendants could go on trial in the sprawling racketeering case as early as the end of next year.

If the Georgia Supreme Court takes up the case and upholds the decision, it will be up to the director of the Georgia State Bar to appoint a new prosecutor.

The case focuses on efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results by pressuring state officials and election workers, submitting a list of fake voters and attempting to tamper with sensitive voting machines. Four have pleaded guilty.

Then, in January 2024, co-defendant Michael Roman, a former Trump campaign staffer, accused Willis of misconduct that threatened to sink the case. Roman alleged that Willis enriched herself by taking fancy vacations with Wade, funded by his law enforcement compensation. Willis and Wade testified before the judge that she paid for the trips herself or reimbursed him for her share of the cost in cash.

Fulton Chief Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Willis’ romantic relationship with Wade created the appearance of a conflict of interest but did not necessitate her disqualification.

McAfee wrote: “An outsider might reasonably assume that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment completely free from compromising influences. As long as Wade remains involved in the case, this unnecessary perception will continue.”

The appeals court was initially scheduled to consider the appeal in December before abruptly canceling oral arguments shortly after Trump’s second victory in office.

Trump faced four different criminal cases. He was convicted in New York on charges related to hush money payments, and a judge recently ruled that the president-elect cannot claim presidential immunity to overturn that conviction. The two federal cases against Trump were dropped after he won the election last month.

In the Georgia case, a central legal question in the proceedings was whether state law requires disqualification of a district attorney only because of an actual conflict of interest or just because of the appearance of impropriety.

“After careful consideration of the Court’s findings in its order, we conclude that it erred by failing to disqualify Attorney Willis and her office,” concluded Justice Trenton Brown, writing for the majority. “The remedy devised by the trial court to prevent a continuing appearance of impropriety did nothing to eliminate the appearance of impropriety that existed at a time when DA Willis exercised her broad pretrial discretion over who should be prosecuted and what charges should be filed .”

“While we recognize that the appearance of impropriety is generally not sufficient to justify disqualification, this is the rare case where disqualification is ordered and no other remedy is sufficient to restore public confidence in the integrity of this process “Brown continued.

Judge Todd Markle agreed. Brown and Markle were both appointed by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal. Judge Benjamin Land, appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, dissented.

“For at least the last 43 years, our appellate courts have held that the appearance of impropriety, absent an actual conflict of interest or actual impropriety, is not a basis for overturning a court’s denial of a motion to disqualify,” Land wrote.

The decision caps a turbulent year for Willis. As 2024 began, Willis was considered a rising star on the national stage, as she not only led the prosecution against a former president but also advanced other high-profile cases, such as an extortion case against rapper Young Thug. In May, she defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary.

But as the year progressed, these marquee boxes began to falter or fall apart.

McAfee has denied several counts in the indictment, but 32 felony counts remain.