The office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia has notified at least two witnesses to appear next week before a grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn election results in the state, the strongest indication yet that prosecutors are preparing to issue indictments in the coming days. Prosecutors will begin to present the case to jurors early next week. Former Republican Lt Governor Geoff Duncan said he has been requested to appear on Tuesday, 15 August. “I did just receive notification to appear on Tuesday morning at the Fulton County grand jury and I certainly will be there to do my part in recounting the facts,” he told CNN. “I have no expectations as to the questions, and I’ll certainly answer whatever questions are put in front of me.” Journalist George Chidi also has announced that he is preparing to testify on Tuesday. The case is the culmination of a wide-ranging investigation over the last two years following the former president’s pressure campaign targeting state officials to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. Ms Willis opened an investigation shortly after news of Mr Trump’s call to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, who was pressed to find “11,870 votes” – just enough needed for then-President Trump to beat Joe Biden in the state. A special grand jury previously heard testimony from 75 witnesses, including aides and former attorneys to Mr Trump. That jury concluded its report in January with recommendations for state prosecutors to bring charges that will soon be reviewed by the newly impaneled grand jury. The investigation is among several facing the former president, who was separately charged with three criminal conspiracies and obstruction in a federal case stemming from the US Department of Justice special counsel probe into his attempts to subvert the election outcome. Last year, Ms Willis’s office sent letters warning several people – including Rudy Giuliani and a slate of so-called “alternate” electors loyal to Mr Trump – that they could face charges in the case. She also may be considering a wider set of charges that Ms Willis has made a career out of bringing against dozens of others. The state’s anti-racketeering RICO statute – typically used to break up organized crime – has been used by her office in indictments against more than two dozen people connected to a sprawling Atlanta hip-hop empire, 38 alleged gang members, and 25 educators accused of cheating Atlanta’s public school system. The RICO Act allows prosecutors to bring charges against multiple people that they believe committed separate crimes while working toward a common goal. A grand jury was sworn in to hear the case last month. Jurors have convened on Mondays and Tuesdays. After a case is presented, members of the grand jury convene to deliberate the case and decide whether to vote for a “true bill” or a “no bill” indictment, the former meaning that there is probable cause to believe a person committed a crime. A “no bill” means jurors did not believe a person committed a crime or that there is not enough evidence to indict them. An indictment is then presented in open court. Mr Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, characterising the multiple criminal indictments against him in several jurisdictions as politically motivated “witch hunts” while lashing out at the Democratic elected prosecutors in Atlanta and New York City – both of whom are Black – as “racist”. News of the upcoming grand jury testimony came as Mr Trump arrived at the Iowa State Fair as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination for president. In a brief appearance to supporters, he falsely claimed that he received “millions and millions” of more votes than Mr Biden in 2020 as a group of his congressional surrogates – including Byron Donald and Matt Gaetz – rallied alongside him in a crowded tent. This is a developing story Read More Trump hits out at Fani Willis as expected Georgia indictment looms after first Jan 6 DC case hearing - latest Trump lashes out at Fulton County DA over Atlanta crime as potential ‘CON JOB’ indictment nears Who is Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who could take down Trump The Supreme Court has already rejected a key part of Trump’s defence

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Jurors in Pittsburgh have begun considering whether the gunman in a white supremacist 2018 shooting at a local synagogue complex should get the death penalty. In June, Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life synagogue, was convicted on 63 federal counts. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, experts called by his attorneys have been arguing in court in recent days that he was so mentally damaged by the time of the shooting he shouldn’t face the death penalty, which is forbidden against people with certain intellectual handicaps. They pointed out how Bowers had been in multiple psychiatric hospitals by the time he was 13 years old, diagnosed with depression and other ailments. As a teenager, he also attempted to kill his mother by spraying an aerosol toward her and trying to light it on fire. By 16, he was voluntarily committed again to a mental facility and had made “repeated suicide attempts,” according to the defence. Richard Rogers, a forensic psychologist who met with Bowers four times while he was in prison, told jurors the gunman showed signs of delusional thinking tied to his white supremacist ideas. “He did not just believe [his conduct] to be correct,” Mr Rogers said, “he believed it absolutely had to be done.” A majority of families whose loved ones died in the shooting have voiced their support for the death penalty in the case. “We are not a ruthless, uncompassionate people; we, as a persecuted people, understand when there is a time for compassion and when there is a time to stand up and say enough is enough — such violent hatred will not be tolerated on this earth,” they wrote in a 2022 letter in the Pittsburg Jewish Chronicle. “Our beloved 11 were taken from us in a brutal, cold-blooded act of hatred and violence. We, the undersigned, will feel further violated by letting the defendant have the easy way out. His crimes deserve the death penalty.” Others tied to the tragedy, the deadliest antisemitic shooting in US history, argued the death penalty violates Jewish tradition. “Jewish practice as I understand it does not — outside of self-defense — allow humans to take the lives of other humans. Not even the life of a murderer whose guilt is beyond doubt,” Beth Kissileff, whose husband, a rabbi, was in the Tree of Life facility during the shooting, wrote in The New York Times. “The death penalty does nothing to promote healing; it only continues more killing,” she added. The Independent and the nonprofit Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for an end to the death penalty in the US. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to their Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty - with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high-profile executives like Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage. Read More A copycat Zodiac Killer terrorised New York years after the California original. This is how he got caught Pittsburgh synagogue killer has extensive history of mental illness, defense expert testifies Doctors give mixed testimony on whether tests show brain damage in the Pittsburgh synagogue killer

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