The new judge presiding over Young Thug’s gang and racketeering trial says things are going to proceed differently now that she is in charge of the longest trial in Georgia’s history.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker indicated the slow-moving trial would pick up pace under her watch and ordered prosecutors to work ahead to get their list of witnesses and exhibits more organized.
“It should not take another seven months,” she told attorneys during a motions hearing Tuesday.
As she took the reins of the 19-month-old trial, Whitaker issued some decisions swiftly. She denied bond for the defendants who remain in jail and rejected a request from prosecutors for a gag order to bar attorneys from speaking to the media.
But Whitaker also noted the volume of still-outstanding motions in the case, court filings that need to be ruled upon before certain witnesses can be called to the stand.
“That’s just not practical. We’re going to change that going forward,” she said.
Prosecutors told Whitaker they plan to call another 105 witnesses. The judge ordered the state to provide by the start of next week a comprehensive list of the evidence they plan to introduce with their next 30 witnesses.
Whitaker is also pondering whether to continue with the case against Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his five co-defendants. Four defense attorneys filed motions seeking a mistrial. Whitaker denied two but did not rule on the others.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is accused of being the co-founder and leader of Young Slime Life, which prosecutors allege is a criminal street gang based in south Atlanta. Williams’ attorneys deny the charges. He has been in jail since his May 2022 arrest.
Several attorneys argued that Chief Judge Ural Glanville’s recusal over his handling of a secret, ex-parte meeting on June 10 with prosecutors and a state’s witness constituted a legitimate change.
But Whitaker disagreed.
“I’m not going to reconsider any bond issues that have already been considered and ruled upon by another court absent legitimate changed circumstances,” Whitaker told defense attorneys.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
In arguing for bond, William’s attorney, Brian Steel, said his client is living in “squalor” at the Cobb County jail while the trial drags on.
“The case is, god forbid there is a conviction, going to be reversed,” Steel told Whitaker. “These are serious issues and I’ve raised them.”
Whitaker called the delays “unfortunate.”
“But those do not, in this court’s mind, amount to the claim of changed circumstances that make it appropriate to reconsider bond,” she said.
Some defense attorneys said they believe prosecutors called the secret meeting to goad them into asking for a mistrial because they were losing their case.
Attorney Max Schardt, who represents Shannon Stillwell, called the trial “completely broken.”
“We are put in an impossible position right now because our rights have been violated, but we do not wish to move for a mistrial,” Schardt said. “I’m not moving for a mistrial but I have extreme doubts about the ability for this case to continue and I’m absolutely certain that my client’s rights have been violated throughout this process.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love disagreed with the defense counsel’s opinion on who is winning the case as it enters its 20th month.
“If they are winning, then let’s just keep it rolling,” Love said, adding that they object to a mistrial.
Whitaker said she has started the lengthy process of catching up on witness testimony and 19 months of rulings by the previous judge.
“I absolutely intend to familiarize myself with what has gone on in this trial prior to me getting involved in it, I’ve already begun to,” Whitaker told attorneys and defendants. She also said Glanville’s court reporter has begun transcribing everything for her to read over.
In his motion for mistrial, Weinstein argues that jurors heard four days of “tainted testimony” after Glanville denied his recusal motion on June 12 and continue to hear testimony rather than immediately halting the trial until another judge could rule on the recusal request.
Whitaker said they will discuss “details and logistics” on Wednesday to determine the best way to be able to reverse trial to June 12.
