The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office argued that there is no reason Chief Judge Ural Glanville shouldn’t remain as the presiding judge over the ongoing gang and racketeering trial against Young Thug and his alleged associates.
“Since no defendant in this case had a right to be present at the June 10, 2024, in-chambers meeting with Kenneth Copeland and his counsel regarding the contempt proceedings against Kenneth Copeland, the fact of the meeting provides no grounds for recusal of Chief Judge Glanville,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love wrote in a response filed Wednesday.
The motions are being handled by Fulton County Judge Rachel Krause, who set a deadline for the DA’s office to issue a written response by Monday, but later extended it to Wednesday. In the order, Krause noted that “time is of the essence given that a jury trial is currently paused pending resolution of these recusal motions.”
Glanville halted proceedings in the case to allow another judge to determine whether he should remain. Calls for Glanville’s removal came after he, along with prosecutors and Copeland, a key state witness, had a secret meeting on June 10 inside Glanville’s chambers.
Defense attorneys called the judge’s conduct improper, contending they had a right to be present for the meeting. They also accused the judge and prosecutors of coercing the reluctant Copeland into testifying by threatening him with indefinite jail time if he refused.
Glanville held Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel in contempt after he refused to tell him how he found out about the meeting. Attorneys for Deamonte Kendrick and Steel then filed motions to recuse Glanville.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
In her response, Love wrote that Steel “stood in open court demanded a mistrial as he loudly and repeatedly hurdled at the Chief Judge Glanville accusations of misconduct” and “repeatedly disobeyed the Chief Judge Glanville’s commands to reveal the Mr. Steel’s source of information regarding in-chamber matters.”
Glanville quickly denied those motions, which prompted attorney Doug Weinstein to file an emergency petition with the State Supreme Court asking that it decide whether Glanville should remain.
The high court denied that petition, ruling it needed to be filed in Fulton County first. Glanville has argued his actions were proper. He released a transcript of the meeting.
During the June 10 meeting with prosecutors, Copeland and his then-attorney Kayla Bumpus, prosecutors told Copeland that if he refused to testify, he could be jailed until defendants all have their cases adjudicated. That could take years.
Love raised concerns about Copeland’s understanding of an immunity agreement offered in exchange for his testimony.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
In her response, Love clarified that prosecutors called the meeting to discuss contempt proceedings against Copeland and noted that the entire meeting was transcribed by the court reporter, except for when Copeland spoke with Bumpus alone.
After Krause was assigned to handle Glanville’s recusal, Weinstein filed a motion asking for all Fulton County judge’s to recuse themselves from handling the recusal motions and for it to be transferred to another jurisdiction.
“To avoid even the appearance of impropriety Judge Krause and any other judge within Fulton County should recuse from hearing Kendrick’s recusal motions,” Weinstein wrote.
On Tuesday afternoon, Krause denied Steel’s call to have her step aside from determining Glanville’s recusal, stating that the $2,000 Glanville gave to her re-election campaign was not an “exceptionally large” contribution that warranted recusal. Krause also denied Weinstein’s motion, which she said lacked merit and supporting documentation.
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