The high-profile trial against hip-hop artist Young Thug and more than a dozen of his alleged associates could include testimony from some high-profile witnesses.
The state plans to call as many as 372 witnesses in the upcoming gang trial, including musicians Lil Wayne, Birdman, Rich Homie Quan and YFN Lucci, court documents show. Prosecutors also plan to call law enforcement officials from across metro Atlanta as well as some victims and their families.
The lists are preliminary and prosecutors and defense attorneys may or may not call everyone listed.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
The prosecution’s witness list includes 157 current and former members of the Atlanta Police Department, 11 GBI members, and more than five dozen other law enforcement officers including agents from the FBI and ATF.
Defense attorneys for Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, filed a motion Wednesday asking prosecutors to submit a “real witness list” of people sure to be called. Williams’ attorneys are also asking the judge to order prosecutors to state the order in which they intend to call witnesses.
Some of the most notable potential witnesses for the state include Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter, Dequantes “Rich Homie Quan” Lamar, Bryan “Birdman” William and Rashawn “YFN Lucci” Bennett.
Bennett’s attorneys, Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg, released a statement saying YFN Lucci will not be testifying in the YSL trial and that his sole focus is on his pending Fulton County case.
“Rayshawn Bennett (Lucci), has never been interviewed or subpoenaed by law-enforcement, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office or any of the party’s regarding the YSL case. Any party can announce for example that Abraham Lincoln is on their witness list, but those words alone are meaningless. So, to be 100% clear, Rayshawn Bennett (Lucci) will not be a witness in the YSL case,” the statement reads.
Bennett is currently awaiting trial on his own RICO indictment, which targets alleged members of the Bloods gang. Bennett is charged with conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO act, felony murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
He is also named in the YSL indictment as the victim of an attempted murder after authorities say he was stabbed by Kahlieff Adams, Damekion Garlington and Jayden Myrick inside the Fulton County Jail.
Jimmy Winfrey, one of the defendants charged in the YSL indictment who has not been arrested, was Birdman’s former tour manager. Authorities said Birdman had a gang beef with Lil Wayne, and that Winfrey opened fire on Lil Wayne’s tour bus in 2015 in Cobb County. He entered an Alford plea to two counts of violating the street gang and terrorism prevention act. As part of the plea deal, the other 25 charges against Winfrey were dropped and he was given credit for the time he’d already served behind bars.
Defense attorneys for Young Thug also filed a potential witness list that includes music executives and attorneys for some of the defendants who have already accepted plea deals.
Among the most notable on the list: Jacoby Hudson, attorney for YSL co-founder Walter Murphy; Ashleigh Merchant, attorney for Martinez “Lil Duke” Arnold; Kelechi Aharanwa, a Sony Music Executive; Lyor Cohen a Google and YouTube music executive; Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Lewis; Kevin Liles, CEO of 300 Entertainment; and Michael Render, also known as Killer Mike.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Williams’ attorneys said prosecutors “dumped” more than 40,000 jail calls on the defense counsel just one month before trial starts. The motion asks the prosecution to specify which jail calls they intend to introduce at trial.
Defense attorney Anastasios Manettas filed a witness list on behalf of his client, Miles Farley. The notable musicians on that list include: Michael “Trippie Red” Lamar White, Nayvadius DeMun Wilburn, also known as Future, and Clifford Joseph Harris, also known as T.I.
In a statement, Findling, who also represents White, stated his client has never been interviewed or subpoenaed by any party in the YSL case and will not be a witness or testify during the trial.
Jury selection began Wednesday as nearly 200 potential jurors were summoned to the courthouse to watch a four-hour video recording of Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville reading the indictment. The potential jurors were ordered to return next week to complete their questionnaires.
