Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, who was overseeing the racketeering and gang conspiracy trial against Young Thug and five associates in Atlanta, Georgia, has been recused from the case, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lawyers for defendants Young Thug and Deamonte Kendrick filed motions claiming that Glanville held a secret meeting with prosecutors and key witness Kenneth Copeland to pressure him to testify, which attorneys argued was improper and unconstitutional. In response, Glanville paused the case indefinitely at the start of July. Judge Rachel Krause has now ruled that while Glanville discussed nothing improper during that meeting and the court believes he could still preside over the case fairly, the meeting should have been held in public and, as such, Glanville should be excused to preserve “the public’s confidence in the judicial system.”
In the order, the Superior Court stated that all judges must disclose information in a “dispassionate and non-argumentative” way to avoid appearing biased. “In presenting his record as to the recusal issues and in ruling on Kendrick’s motion, Judge Glanville evaluated and accepted the truth of his own factual allegations, mandating his recusal,” it reads. The Fulton Clerk of Court confirmed that Judge Shukura Ingram has been assigned the case in Glanville’s place.
“Jeffrey Williams is innocent of the charges brought in this indictment and to clear his name he sought a speedy trial, one in which he would receive the constitutional guarantees of a fair trial with an impartial judge presiding and ethical prosecutors following the law,” said Brian Steel, Young Thug’s attorney, in a statement. “Sadly, Judge Glanville and the prosecutors have run afoul of their duties under of the law. Mr. Williams is grateful that the reviewing court agreed with him and entered the order recusing and disqualifying Judge Glanville from presiding over Mr. Williams’ case. We look forward to proceeding with a trial judge who will fairly and faithfully follow the law.”
Young Thug’s case is already the longest criminal trial in Georgia history at 18 months, with inevitably many more to follow. The jury selection process took 10 months and, barely two weeks after the trial finally started in late November, another delay arrived when one of Young Thug’s co-defendants, Shannon Stillwell, was stabbed in jail and hospitalized; Stillwell survived the attack.
Before today’s ruling, Young Thug’s trial was expected to last into 2025 and prosecutors still weren’t halfway through their projected witness list, which includes over 200 people. Former Judicial Qualifications Commission chair Chuck Boring told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Ingram will look at the case and decide if she, as its new judge, should move forward with it or recuse herself. Once that’s done, “it is likely that defense attorneys will file a motion for a mistrial,” Boring said.
Young Thug faces numerous charges in the trial, mostly based on the allegation that he led the Young Slime Life (YSL) gang, with ties to the national Bloods organization. In opening arguments, Adriane Love, the chief deputy district attorney for Fulton County, told the jury that YSL “moved like a pack,” with Young Thug “as its head,” while seeking to dominate the Atlanta area. The defense countered by claiming that YSL is simply a record label whose artists adhere to the conventions of rap music, presenting entertaining accounts of criminal life that its practitioners do not in fact carry out.
The judge also allowed prosecutors to submit song lyrics as evidence, a controversial legal method that analysts have discredited.
