The new judge presiding over Young Thug’s lengthy gang and racketeering case faces an “impossible task” if she is to instruct the jury to disregard days of testimony, defense attorneys said in their latest push for a mistrial that would end the tumultuous 19-month-old case.
In a motion filed Tuesday, lawyers for defendant Deamonte Kendrick accused Fulton County prosecutors of intentionally triggering a mistrial to salvage what the defense says was a losing case.
“Losing its case, apparently unconcerned about the need for public justice, the State clearly sought an opportunity to restart the trial by triggering an event in such egregious violation of the Constitutional rights of Kendrick that he would have no choice but to request a mistrial,” attorney Doug Weinstein wrote.
Seeger Gray / AJC
Seeger Gray / AJC
The defense was referring to a secret June 10 meeting Chief Judge Ural Glanville held in his chambers with prosecutors and key witness Kenneth Copeland. Glanville, who had presided over the high-profile case for more than two years, was recused from the trial over his handling of the session.
“Kendrick’s Constitutional rights were violated when neither he nor his attorneys were present at a critical stage of the proceedings — the secret, ex parte meeting among the State, Chief Judge Glanville, Copeland, state investigators, court staff, and deputies,” Weinstein wrote.
The meeting was called by prosecutors, who then threatened to jail Copeland indefinitely if he backed out of his agreement to testify.
Weinstein sought Glanville’s recusal two days later, but the judge denied the request and continued with Copeland’s testimony rather than immediately halting the trial until another judge could rule.
As a result, jurors heard four days of “tainted testimony,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein asked for the trial to be reset to June 12, with subsequent testimony excluded. But Weinstein said that testimony cannot be unheard.
“How is this Court to accomplish this impossible task?” he asked in Tuesday’s motion. “How does this Court take the jurors’ notes from these days from the jurors? How can the jury unhear days and days of testimony?
“Instructing someone to not picture flying elephants only results in the listener conjuring images of Dumbo,” he wrote.
Still, after slogging through court proceedings for the better part of two years, not all of the defendants want mistrials. Defense attorney Max Schardt, who represents Shannon Stillwell, said starting from scratch is not a “viable option” for his client. He also said he thinks the defense is winning “despite the persistent legal errors.”
“Mr. Stillwell has been incarcerated since and has suffered through the duration of this case,” Schardt wrote. He said he only wants a mistrial if the charges against his client can’t be brought again.
Miguel Martinez
Miguel Martinez
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, has been in jail since his May 2022 arrest. Fulton County prosecutors allege the Grammy-award winning artist is the co-founder and leader of Young Slime Life, which they say is a criminal street gang based in south Atlanta. The rapper’s attorneys say he is innocent and that YSL is simply a record label.
Attorneys have also asked the newly assigned judge, Paige Reese Whitaker, to grant bond to their clients. Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel filed a motion for bond reconsideration Tuesday, stating the rapper is not a flight risk or a risk to intimidate witnesses, commit a felony or a significant threat to the community.
If bond is granted, Williams would be willing to be on house arrest throughout the duration of the trial, with a full-time, off-duty sworn law enforcement officer watching him at the house. Any visitors would have to be approved by Judge Whitaker and the District Attorney’s Office, and will have to consent to being searched physically and electronically by the off-duty sworn police officer, Steel wrote.
Steel said Williams even suggested to have his calls, text messages and other means of communication monitored as a condition of bond. He said the cost for the officer and the ankle monitor would be incurred by Williams.
In the motion, Steel described the conditions inside the Cobb County Jail, where Young Thug is housed, as “torturous.” Glanville denied multiple requests for bond since Williams was arrested in May 2022.
Miguel Martinez/AJC
Miguel Martinez/AJC
In her order recusing Glanville from the case, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause noted there was nothing improper about the June 10 meeting but said it could — and maybe should — have been held in open court. Steel filed a motion arguing Krause’s assessment of the meeting was “wholly against the law” because defense attorneys and defendants had a right to be at the meeting.
Since Glanville’s recusal, attorneys have done multiple interviews talking about the trial. Prosecutors filed a motion Tuesday asking that the defense counsel be prohibited from speaking to the media as the case moves forward.
Earlier this month, Steel argued a mistrial should be declared based on the failure to protect his client’s constitutional rights by prosecutors Adriane Love, Simone Hylton and Judge Glanville.
Prosecutors have until Friday to file their responses to the defendant’s motions.
Whitaker has scheduled a motions hearing for July 30. Jurors are scheduled to return to the courtroom Aug. 5, where they’ll discover a new judge on the bench.
