On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, Atlanta News First reported that defense attorneys in rapper Young Thug’s high-profile racketeering trial erupted in court after learning about another private meeting between prosecutors and the trial’s former judge.
Max Schardt, who represents defendant Shannon Stillwell, expressed outrage upon receiving the transcript of the undisclosed June 7, 2024, meeting between prosecutors and then-presiding Judge Ural Glanville. Schardt argued neither the court nor prosecutors acknowledged the existence of this second ex parte, or private out-of-court, gathering between the state and judge.
Doug Weinstein, attorney for co-defendant Deamonte Kendrick, filed a supplemental motion for a mistrial based on the June meeting. Both Weinstein and Schardt have been highly critical of Glanville, claiming bias in his rulings against their clients. They are renewing calls for a mistrial, arguing due process violations from the former judge cannot be remedied.
The current presiding judge, Paige Reese Whitaker, was recently assigned the high-profile case after two previous judges recused themselves. Whitaker has not yet ruled on the mistrial motion related to the undisclosed June meeting between Glanville and prosecutors.
On Tuesday, Whitaker heard a full day of motions in the trial and expressed surprise the state and defense had not better organized witness lists and evidence. She ordered prosecutors to provide a “much more winnowed-down list” of remaining witnesses by the following week, noting the trial should not take seven more months as currently planned.
Prosecutors are attempting to prove rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, led a criminal street gang named YSL, but the defense claims YSL was simply a record label. Williams and 27 others were arrested in May 2022 on RICO charges. Jury selection lasted over four months, setting a new state record.
While prosecutors argue the meetings with Glanville were proper, defense attorneys maintain they demonstrate the former judge’s bias. Glanville was ultimately removed from the high-profile case in June after the defense learned of his private meeting with prosecutors and reluctant star witness Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland before Copeland agreed to testify.
Whitaker faces the difficult task of addressing issues from the trial’s troubled beginning while presiding over the complex RICO case involving over 100 potential witnesses. She has imposed new rules on decorum and told attorneys the trial should not last into 2025 as currently scheduled.
Source: Atlanta News First
