NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Kilmar Abrego Garcia case will be in front of a Nashville judge again on Friday where attorneys will discuss the scope of discovery before trial. This happening ahead of his January trial on human smuggling charges.

Abrego Garcia himself will not appear in court. His legal team argues the charges, filed the same day he was returned to the U.S. from El Salvador, are retaliation after he successfully sued the Trump administration for his mistaken deportation.

A Tennessee judge has already suggested the prosecution may cross legal lines.

At the same time, a separate federal hearing is taking place in Maryland, where a judge is questioning the government’s new plan to deport Abrego Garcia to the African nation of Eswatini.

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