Testimony in the high-profile YSL gang case involving Young Thug and five others resumed Wednesday after a broadcast camera operator inadvertently filmed some of the jurors during court proceedings.
Chief Judge Ural Glanville ordered all of the attorneys into chambers about 4 p.m., delaying the testimony of an Atlanta police detective for about an hour.
Screenshots of three or four jurors seated in the front row were captured from a livestream and shared widely online Wednesday morning. In the clip, the faces of at least two members of the panel can be seen. A photo of the jurors was shared on social media by a pop culture podcaster with 1.3 million followers.
“Due to some security issues ... and the fact that we have an inadvertent recording of some of our jurors on the front row, would it be appropriate or OK if you all would not continue to film Detective (Mark) Belknap?” Glanville asked several reporters in his courtroom.
Some of the jurors’ seats are positioned just outside the confines of the jury box so they can be seen by the six defendants on the other side of the courtroom
Glanville said the journalists could continue to record audio of the detective’s testimony, but asked that his face not be shown.
Belknap, who had been on the stand since about 10:30 a.m., is the first of the prosecution’s 400-or-so witnesses. Selecting a jury in the gang and racketeering case took 10 months, and the “Young Slime Life” trial is already the longest in state history.
It’s expected to last at least six more months, possibly up to a year.
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