Judge in Young Thug RICO case recused as YSL trial in Atlanta goes on hold indefinitely

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As a devoted fan of Young Thug, I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment and frustration as I read about yet another delay in his ongoing racketeering trial. The latest development – the recusal of Judge Ural Glanville – adds another layer of complexity to an already intricate case.

The judge overseeing Young Thug’s high-profile racketeering trial in Atlanta, which started in November, is set to step down from the case.

Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville will no longer oversee the court proceedings in the RICO trial, a different Fulton County Superior Court judge ordered Monday, according to legal documents reviewed by The Times. Judge Rachel R. Krause said in an order filed Monday that the “‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor” of excusing Glanville from the case, despite the court’s belief that he would continue “presiding fairly over this matter” if the motions were denied.

A few weeks ago, defense teams for Young Thug, Deamonte Kendrick, and attorney Kayla Bumpus submitted motions to have Judge Glanville recuse himself from our case. They argued that he had met with prosecutors and a prosecution witness in an “improper” manner, without the presence of defendants or their legal representatives.

In June, I met with prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland and his lawyers. Up until his testimony on June 11, I had represented him. However, just before that, on June 10, our meeting turned out to be a source of friction in an already unpredictable trial.

Defense lawyer Brian Steel, representing Jeffrey Williams better known as Young Thug, implicated Glanville in arranging a clandestine meeting without revealing the source of his information. Consequently, Glanville convicted Steel for contempt of court and penalized him with 10 weekend imprisonments in Fulton County Jail. However, Steel’s sentence was subsequently overturned.

At a recent hearing, Glanville announced his intention to make public the transcript from the June 10 session. Additionally, he decided to postpone a scheduled hearing permanently, and submitted requests for another judge to consider his recusal.

“At that point, I’ll record the decision as an order to be transferred. The meeting will adjourn and reconvene once those matters have been determined,” Glanville explained earlier.

If the case is to be reassigned as per the sequence, it could result in an additional delay in the prolonged trial of Young Thug’s racketeering case, which commenced with opening statements in November 2021. The proceedings against the rapper, initially charged by Georgia authorities in a grand indictment from 2022, accused him of being one of the founding members of Atlanta criminal organization Young Slime Life, or YSL.

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2024-07-18 20:32