The Atlanta judge who oversees Young ThugHis gang trial is refusing to recuse himself from the case and declare a mistrial, rejecting a motion by the rapper's lawyers over revelations of an allegedly “illegal” secret meeting with prosecutors and a star witness.
At a hearing in Fulton County Court on Tuesday, Judge Ural Glanville rejected Thug's lawyer's arguments Brian Steele that the judge had “lost his role as an impartial judge and became part of the prosecution team”. The ruling came just a day after Steel filed his plea, in which he argued that the secret meeting with prosecutors was an “inexcusable” mistake.
“The court has joined the prosecution team in an attempt to obstruct Mr. Williams' constitutional right to a fair trial,” Steel wrote in the motion, referring to Thug by his real name. Jeffrey Williams. “This jury must be reversed, the jury and the prosecution violated Mr. Williams' rights, and the indictment must be dismissed after a mistrial.”
But in Tuesday's ruling from the bench, Glanville said Steel's claims were simply based on “vague allegations and legal conclusions that are insufficient for the court to accept your motion.” The judge also refused to stop the trial or allow an immediate appeal of the decision to a higher court.
Thug and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 over allegations that his group “YSL” was not actually a record label called “Young Stoner Life” but rather a violent Atlanta gang called “Young Slime Life.” Prosecutors allege the group committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug trafficking and other crimes over a decade. Having begun in January 2023, the trial is already the largest in Georgia state history and is expected to last until early next year.
In an extraordinary courtroom episode last week, Steel revealed he had learned of a secret “ex parte” meeting that morning between Glanville, prosecutors and a witness named Kenneth Copeland. Steel argued that such a meeting, without defense counsel present, was clear ground for a miscarriage of justice. He claimed that Glanville had helped prosecutors coerce the uncooperative Copeland into testifying with threats of lengthy prison terms.
Instead of addressing Steel's allegations, Glanville repeatedly demanded that he reveal who had tipped him off about a private meeting in his room, saying the leak was illegal: “If you don't tell me how you got that information, you and I are going to to have problems”. After Steel refused to do so, the judge eventually held him in contempt and sentenced him to 20 days in jail. The Georgia Supreme Court later stayed the sentence while it reviews Glanville's decision.
In Monday's motion seeking Glanville's exoneration, Steele criticized the judge for the secret meeting, repeatedly referring to it as the “star chamber” — a reference to an ancient English court practice characterized by secrecy and a lack of due process. He said the incident shows that Glanville and prosecutors are “collaborating to gain an illegal advantage over Mr. Williams.”
“Sir. Williams' trial is constitutionally broken, unfair, and devoid of all the constitutional, statutory, and moral safeguards and protections of due process of law,” Steel wrote. “No intellectually honest person could believe that the coercion of the witness Coleland to testify in a “star” setting meets the constitutional muster.”
In depositions, Steel detailed what he believes happened during the ex parte meeting.
After Copeland had refused a plan to testify in exchange for immunity, Steel claimed that prosecutors and Glanville had warned the witness that if he did not testify, he could be held until the entire YSL case was over – a process he is expected to take many years. Steel alleges that Glanville gave Copeland a written copy of the perjury rules, which Steel argued was “no subtle gesture and one that helped the prosecution team achieve their mission of getting Mr. Copeland to change opinion and to testify”.
“This court participated and was present during these admonitions/threats to Mr. Cowland,” Steel writes. “This is witness intimidation, coercion, and the court has become part of the prosecution team to help the prosecution induce a material witness to testify.”
In addition to the substance of the meeting, Steel took particular aim at its secrecy — saying Glanville and prosecutors not only held the meeting without warning, but “never intended” to reveal it to defense attorneys until Steel learned about it himself. by other means. He also argued that Glanville had “obstructed justice” by refusing to release a transcript, and even suggested that court officials “may have been instructed to turn off their body cameras.”
During Tuesday's hearing, after Glanville denied the exoneration motion, Steele unsuccessfully pleaded with him to reconsider the resignation. The attorney warned that when he examined Copeland on the witness stand, he would have to ask him about the ex parte meeting with the judge.
“I'm going to ask him how much pressure, if any, the court put on him, and you'll be the one instructing the jury,” Steel told Glanville. “And I can't imagine how fair that is to Mr. Williams.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/young-thug-trial-judge-denies-motion-step-down-secret-meeting/
