A prospective Fulton County juror who was surveilled by prosecutors and had his movements tracked for weeks can remain in the jury pool despite concerns over where he lives, a judge ruled Monday.
Juror No. 110 is among 48 potential jurors qualified in the ongoing gang and racketeering case against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and others. But prosecutors sought his dismissal after learning he spends most nights at his Cobb County apartment.
In a court filing, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said it monitored the man’s Austell complex for at least a month to see where he slept and that investigators tracked his whereabouts using license plate readers.
The juror, a diesel technician who spent time in “the service,” previously acknowledged that he rents an apartment outside the county, though he lists his mother’s Atlanta home as his permanent address.
During questioning, he also expressed some qualms about serving as a juror in the high-profile case because he enjoys Young Thug’s music.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
The juror said he spends about four nights a week at the house where he grew up and that he’s helping his mom pay off the mortgage. But surveillance conducted by the state found that he rarely, if ever, sleeps in Atlanta, prosecutor Adriane Love argued.
Tracking his car across metro Atlanta through the use of license plate readers, prosecutors said when the man does venture into the city he goes nowhere near his mother’s house.
“I don’t even believe that he has visited his mother in the last three months,” said Love, who noted the man hasn’t voted since 2011. “I think he ought to be excused at this point ... for not being a resident of Fulton County.”
Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, raised concerns about the ethics of monitoring potential jurors and accused the state of surveilling people they don’t like “just to save preemptory strikes.”
“Is it that important for the state of Georgia to win at any cost?” Steel asked. “Why don’t we subpoena their subscriptions, or get their (TV) channels or their Google records?”
He said any issues the state had with potential jurors should have been raised sooner.
The DA’s office argued that any guilty verdicts returned in the case would be promptly overturned on appeal if it’s determined that one of the jurors lived outside the county and was ineligible to serve.
In addition, the state said there were at least three other qualified jurors that it had concerns about. It wasn’t immediately clear whether those jurors were also surveilled.
After a spirited back-and-forth between the prosecution and defense that lasted nearly two hours, Chief Judge Ural Glanville ruled that the man would remain in the jury pool.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
He noted that people often have second or third homes in different counties or states, but can only list one as their primary address.
“People do that all the time.” Glanville said. “In looking at the totality of where he’s given addresses and our examination of him, the court is still of the opinion that he is a resident of Fulton County.”
The grueling 10-month process of selecting a jury in the case could soon come to an end. Glanville said Monday that he believes he has enough people qualified, and plans to strike a jury the Monday after Thanksgiving.
But with hundreds of witnesses and terabytes of evidence expected to be presented, the trial itself could last up to a year once it finally begins.
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