The judge in the case of Atlanta rapper Young Thug was put on hold indefinitely until an outside judge could review motions from the rapper and others that the judge should not be involved in the case. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville made a surprise announcement as attorneys gathered for a private hearing to review the transcript of a June 10 meeting between the judge, prosecutors and a witness in the gang conspiracy case. Glanville's meeting with a sworn witness and accusations that the judge and prosecutors were pressuring a key witness to testify has led to defense attorneys trying to remove Glanville from overseeing the case. Glanville abruptly made the hearing public and announced from the bench that he planned to release the full transcript of the meeting so everyone would have a chance to look at it. The announcement appeared to catch many by surprise, including prosecutors who immediately raised concerns about the impact on the jury in what is already the longest criminal trial in Georgia history. Glanville said he didn't have anything to do with that.
The trial of Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, has dragged on at a snail's pace, marred by jury and witness problems and other daily turmoil that has engulfed the high-profile prosecution led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. One of the two high-profile criminal racketeering cases being led by the office is the Young Thug prosecution. The veteran prosecutor brought charges against Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his associates, accusing them of conspiring to try to overturn the 2020 election loss in Georgia.
The rapper and his associates were accused of being members of a violent criminal street gang in Atlanta in a grand jury indictment. Prosecutors claim that Young Thug was the leader of the gang, known as YSL, and have charged him with criminal racketeering and gang charges while others were charged with other violent crimes. Young Thug's attorneys have countered by claiming YSL is merely a record label and have attacked prosecutors for introducing Young Thug's lyrics as evidence at trial, arguing that his rhymes were merely artistic expression. The proceedings were almost halted immediately after one of the co-conspirators was stabbed in jail, but they resumed in January. Since opening statements, jurors have only heard testimony for about half of the days. The trial could go on for a long time, with attorneys suggesting it could last well into the future, even though the latest turmoil has raised questions about Glanville's control of the case. Steel accused Glanville of being an unofficial member of the prosecution team in a June 17 motion. The Georgia Supreme Court declined to hear the request for a recusal from Glanville because it wasn't heard by a lower court first. Doug Weinstein, an attorney for the rapper Yak Gotti, wrote in the motion that his client's actions offend public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary. From the bench, Glanville read from an order he said he would write, describing the events that led to the private meeting with Copeland. He argued that he didn't do anything wrong.