The Atlanta judge overseeing the gang trial of rapper Young Thug has been ordered removed from the case — a stunning development in sprawling proceedings that have already become the longest in Georgia state history.
The decision issued by the judge Rachel Crouseit came a month after revelations of a secret “ex parte” meeting between Judge Ural Glanville, prosecutors and key witness. Lawyers for Thug and other defendants argued the meeting violated their constitutional rights to a fair trial.
Glanville says the meeting was proper and has repeatedly refused calls to step down, but earlier this month he referred the case to Krause to decide whether he should continue as chairman. And in a ruling on Monday (July 15) she said she shouldn't.
“This court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and will continue to fairly preside over this matter if the motions to dismiss are denied,” Krause wrote. “But the necessity of maintaining public confidence in the judicial system weighs in favor of recusing Judge Glanville from further handling this case.”
Krause did not say who would take over the process or how the decision would affect the timeline of the trial, which has already been underway for more than 18 months. Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys immediately returned requests for comment Monday.
Thug (Jeffery Williams) and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 over allegations that his “YSL” was not actually a record label called “Young Stoner Life,” but rather a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life”. Citing Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), prosecutors allege the group ran a criminal enterprise that committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug trafficking and other crimes over a decade.
The trial has already been plagued by procedural delays. Jury selection last year took more than 10 months to complete, and prosecutors have already spent months presenting only part of their massive witness list. The case is expected to last until at least early next year.
Last month, Thug's lawyer, Brian Steele, revealed that he had learned of a secret meeting between Glanville, prosecutors and a key witness named Kenneth Copeland. Claiming that the judge had helped prosecutors coerce the uncooperative Copeland into testifying with threats of lengthy prison terms, Steel argued that the ex parte meeting was clear grounds for a mistrial.
Rather than confront Steel's allegations, Glanville demanded to know how he had learned about the meeting and eventually ordered him sent to prison when he refused to share his source. Since that strange incident, Steel and other defense attorneys have repeatedly asked Glanville to recuse himself from the case.
“Glanville's actions offend the public's confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” fellow defendant Yak Gotti (Deamonte Kendrick) wrote in a petition last month to the Georgia Supreme Court.
In her ruling Monday, even though Krause ordered Glanville removed from the case, she said the ex parte meeting itself appeared to be largely superhuman: “While the meeting could — and perhaps should — be publicly, nothing about the fact of the meeting or the substance discussed was inherently improper.”
Rather than the meeting with the prosecutors themselves, Krause said it was Glanville's subsequent handling of the fallout from those revelations—namely, his choice to settle a controversy in which he was involved—that now required him to step away from the case.
“In presenting his background on the issues of relief and ruling on Kendrick's motion, Judge Glanville evaluated and accepted the truth of his own factual allegations, granting his relief,” Krause wrote.
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