An appeals court in the US state of Georgia has paused the election fraud trial against former president Donald Trump, as the defence called for a prosecutor on the case to be disqualified.
Before the trial can proceed, a decision had to be made on whether leading District Attorney Fani Willis could continue her investigations, the court said on Wednesday.
The three appeals court judges, all appointed by Republicans - are to rule on the matter by March next year. A first hearing has been scheduled for October.
Attorneys for Trump and other defendants in the case accuse Willis of having benefited financially from a romantic relationship with another prosecutor in the case, Nathan Wade, who they say paid for luxury holidays the pair took together. Willis rejects the accusations.
Trump and several others are on trial in Georgia for their attempts to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
The Republican had lost to Democrat Joe Biden at the time and attempted to change the election result retrospectively by putting pressure on political leaders in the federal government and in states such as Georgia.
Following the indictment, some of Trump's former associates entered into an agreement with the public prosecutor's office and pleaded guilty. The 77-year-old is aiming to return to the White House with a win in the presidential election in November.
In March, Judge Scott McAfee ruled that there wasn't enough evidence to prove a conflict of interest on the part of Willis. However, Wade withdrew from the proceedings due to an "appearance of impropriety" established by McAfee.
Trump's side then filed an appeal, which the competent court granted in May. However, Judge McAfee initially allowed the trial to continue in his courtroom while the judgement of the court of appeal was still pending.
Wednesday's order pauses the proceedings until after the November presidential election, in what is seen as a victory for Trump who also faces criminal indictments in four different cities.
Besides the Georgia case, another case also involves his alleged efforts to keep himself in power after Biden defeated him in 2020, while another concerns the retention of classified documents after leaving office.
In another separate case, Trump been found guilty in New York on all counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a adult film star in the waning days of the 2016 election campaign.