Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker took the bench for the first time Friday in the 19-month-old “Young Slime Life” trial and signaled that the lengthy case would move ahead.
Whitaker was assigned to the case against Young Thug and his alleged associates Wednesday and told attorneys for the six defendants she would need time to catch up.
“I’m parachuting in and I’m just going to have to pick up from here and move forward,” Whitaker told attorneys. “I cannot go back and reconsider every evidentiary ruling that has been made.”
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Whitaker took the helm after Judge Ural Glanville was removed over his handling of requests for his recusal. Glanville was also criticized for the way he ran the trial. There were long breaks in testimony, defendants wore headphones and ate in court and the proceedings often started late.
Whitaker said she would run a tighter ship.
“Once we do start back up with the jury, I’m thinking 8:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. and when I say 8:45 a.m., I mean 8:45 a.m.,” Whitaker said.
She took the opportunity on Friday to get up to speed on what motions are pending and what needs to be handled in the immediate future. No defendants were present.
She gave attorneys a deadline of Tuesday, July 23 to file motions and prosecutors a deadline of Friday, July 25 to file responses before she hears argument starting on Tuesday, July 30.
The jury, which has not been in court since June 17, is expected to be back starting Monday August 5. Whitaker didn’t want to rule or hear argument on any potential motions or motions for a mistrial that may have already been filed.
In advance of the hearing, legal experts said they thought a mistrial was likely. But Whitaker sounded determined on Friday to push forward, telling attorneys they needed to be ready to be in court.
“You are all protected from being expected to be in trial anywhere else until the end... of this trial,” she said.
But she added that defense attorneys and prosecutors should also consider plea negotiations that could be fruitful.
“I’m willing to entertain any kind of plea at anytime,” she said.
Still, if all sides want to proceed to trial, that was fine with her.
“I’m here to give everybody a fair trial and everybody a fair shake and to follow the law,” she said.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
As of Friday morning, only Marquavius Huey had filed a motion for bond. Most defendants, including Young Thug, have been in jail since the case was indicted on May 2022.
Additional motions for bonds and possible motions for mistrial are expected to be filed in the coming days ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel filed a motion asking prosecutors Adriane Love and Simone Hylton to be disqualified from the case due to making themselves “critical witnesses in this case” following the June 10 secret meeting with Glanville and key state witness, Kenneth Copeland.
He also filed a motion Friday asking for all proceedings, including Copeland’s testimony, exhibits shown to the jury and Glanville’s rulings, that occurred from June 12 through July 1 to be invalidated and stricken from the record. Defense attorney Doug Weinstein filed a recusal motion on June 12.
“If a party files a Motion to Recuse a Trial Judge and the Motion is denied, but it is later determined that the Judge should have been disqualified to act in the case, all proceedings after the filing of the Motion to Recuse are invalid and of no effect,” Steel wrote in the motion citing case law.
Steel requested a hearing on the motion.
“The like must be erased, forever, in toto, from the jury’s mind and any rulings that occurred in front of and outside of the presence of the jury are invalid,” he wrote.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Whitaker ended the hearing addressing some instances she has become aware in which tempers have flared between attorneys, primarily between Steel and Love. She just reminded them that they needed to be professional to each other.
“The little bit I’ve seen about this case, it definitely has appeared that there have been times that tempers have flared a whole lot and people have been less than professional,” she said. “I would like for us to maintain a degree of decorum, dignity and professionalism.”
Prosecutors have said intend to call more than 130 additional witnesses in the coming months. Whitaker asked attorneys to be able to provide an updated list of witnesses and include what they are expected to testify about.
- AJC writer Bill Rankin contributed to this report.
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