Judge removed from rapper Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Fulton County Superior Judge Rachel Krause has ruled Judge Ural Glanville, who has been presiding over Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta since before witness testimony even began last November, should be recused.

Krause’s ruling, issued Monday, July 15, 2024, has thrown even more uncertainty into the nation’s most watched judicial proceeding involving one of American entertainment’s most iconic musical performers.

At the center of Glanville’s recusal is a June 10, 2024, ex parte meeting held between Glanville, two Fulton County prosecutors, star prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland (aka Woody or Lil’ Woody) and his stand-in attorney, Kayla Bumpus. (The legal term ex parte, translated from Latin as “out of the party,” refers to a decision made by a judge without requiring all parties in a dispute to be present.)

On June 7, 2024, Copeland himself was jailed for refusing to testify. Copeland is widely believed to have informed police of alleged crimes committed by Young Thug and the alleged YSL gang. By the following Monday, Copeland had changed his tune and agreed to testify.

Then Glanville ordered Steel be held in contempt after Steel told Glanville, in open court, he had learned of the ex parte meeting that was held without any other defense attorneys’ knowledge or forewarning. Glanville demanded to know how Steel had learned of that meeting, and Steel refused to disclose his source. That’s when Glanville ordered Steel arrested.

Glanville’s contempt ruling against Steel has since been suspended by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Glanville has since released that meeting’s timeline and transcript.

“This Court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, but the “necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system” weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case,” Krause’s ruling said.

For months, defense attorneys for Young Thug and his remaining co-defendants have been making motions for a mistrial, claiming Glanville is biased against them and their efforts to prove Jeffery Williams (Young Thug’s real name) is not the head of a criminal gang known as YSL (Young Slime Life or Young Stoner’s Life).

Prosecutors, on the other hand, wanted Glanville to remain as judge, as evidenced by their responses to defense attorneys’ efforts.

Krause’s ruling came in response to a motion filed two weeks ago by Young Thug attorney Brian Steel, which called for Krause to recuse herself from making the decision on whether Glanville should stay on the YSL case. In the motion, he also called for two top prosecutors to be removed from the trial.

Steel and Young Thug’s other attorney, Keith Adams, have repeatedly moved for a mistrial, as have attorneys for some of the other defendants in the trial. Glanville had been denying all of the repeated motions, as well as motions from Steel and other attorneys to recuse himself from the trial.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are continuing to haggle over Copeland’s police interviews and jail recordings. Steel is accusing prosecutors of coercing Copeland’s testimony, who he said was being surrounded by law enforcement and district attorney officials.

Williams was arrested on May 9, 2022, along with 27 other suspected gang members in Buckhead as part of a 56-count indictment.

The trial’s jury selection lasted longer than any other in Georgia history, and actual witness testimony itself will likely surpass state records. Both records were set by the Atlanta Public Schools teacher scandal and trial of 2014-15.

Prosecutors are attempting to show YSL, or Young Slime Life, is a criminal street gang responsible for numerous offenses. Defense attorneys say YSL is not a gang but simply the name of a record label, Young Stoner Life.

Young Thug himself is facing eight criminal counts under a federal law that was originally enacted to fight organized crime. Georgia is one of 33 states that has its own RICO law, but in the Peach State, the alleged criminal enterprises do not have to have existed as long as the federal law.

The trial – which has been repeatedly plagued by arrests, charges and disruptions – began on Nov. 27, 2023. Defense attorneys have repeatedly raised concerns that the trial could go on for years based on the number of witnesses the state plans to call up.

Williams is also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; possession of codeine with intent to distribute; possession of cocaine; possession of a firearm; and possession of a machine gun.

A total of 18 jurors have been selected, with six of them being alternates. Two jurors have already been excused; one had a medical emergency, and the other moved out of Fulton County.