For the second time in three months, a Fulton County prosecutor assigned to the major gang case involving rapper Young Thug and more than a dozen of his alleged associates is leaving the district attorney’s office.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Lizzie Rosenwasser is leaving toward the end of the month, a spokesman for the DA’s office confirmed.
The Georgia Attorney General’s Office confirmed Rosenwasser is returning to her previous role as an assistant attorney general in the Criminal Justice Division.
Rosenwasser argued pre-trial motions in the sweeping Fulton gang case, but hasn’t been in court since jury selection officially began last week. Her planned departure comes just months after veteran prosecutor Don Geary left the DA’s office for a job in Gwinnett.
Reached by phone this week, the prosecutor referred all questions to the DA’s spokesman.
Rosenwasser, who is assigned to the major case division, has been with the Fulton DA’s office since February 2021, according to her LinkedIn page. The Emory Law graduate worked for the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office nearly three and a half years and spent almost a year at the AG’s office before coming to Fulton.
Jury selection in the lengthy YSL trial officially began Jan. 4 with nearly 600 Fulton residents reporting to the courthouse over three days. With 14 defendants and the trial expected to last about nine months, prosecutors and defense attorneys may be hard-pressed finding jurors who can afford to miss that much work.
Many of those interviewed in court so far have said they could lose their livelihoods and their homes if they’re forced to sit on this jury. Others who have yet to face the judge have grown visibly irritated with having to wait around for hours or even days for their chance to be excused from jury duty.
Prosecutors allege award winning hip-hop artist Young Thug is the leader of “Young Slime Life,” a southwest Atlanta gang responsible for much of the city’s violent crime. Attorneys for the 31-year-old, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, strongly deny the charges and say YSL is just a record label.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The original RICO indictment named 28 defendants, but eight accepted plea deals and six others will be tried separately, bringing the number of defendants set to stand trial to 14.
