Young Thug's co-defendant asks Georgia Supreme Court to force YSL judge to resign

One of Young ThugHis co-defendants are asking the Georgia Supreme Court to force the judge overseeing the rapper's high-profile gang trial to resign, arguing that a secret meeting with prosecutors and a witness was a serious breach of judicial ethics.

Judge Ural Glanville he himself has already refused repeated requests from Thug's lawyer Brian Steele and other defense attorneys that he resigned over allegations about the so-called ex parte meeting — and instead ordered Steel jailed after he refused to reveal how he learned about it.

So on Thursday, lawyers for fellow rapper and co-defendant Yak Gotti (Deamont Kendrick) filed an emergency petition asking the state supreme court to compel Glanville to do so.

“Glanville's actions offend the public's trust in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” his attorney Yak Gotti wrote. Doug Weinstein. “An appearance of impropriety and bias hangs over the present trial because of Glanville's failure to follow the law.”

If the petition is granted, it will be the second time the Georgia Supreme Court has taken part in the YSL trial. Last week, the high court halted Steel's prison sentence and agreed to review the judge's decision to hold the lawyer in contempt.

Well done (Jeffrey Williams) and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022 with allegations that his “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 episode in court last week, Steel revealed he had learned of an ex parte meeting 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.

Copeland is a key witness in the entire racketeering case against Thug and the other alleged members of YSL, but is especially important in the case against Yak Gotti. His testimony concerns the murder of DOnovan “Nut” Thomas Jr.that Gotti and co-defendant Shannon Stillwell they are directly charged with the commitment.

Instead of addressing Steel's allegations, Glanville demanded to know how he learned about the meeting, implying it was the result of an illegal leak. The judge eventually held Steel in contempt of court when the attorney refused to name names, ordering him to serve 20 days in the county jail as punishment.

Earlier this week, Steel and other defense attorneys later asked the judge to recuse himself from the case over the incident. In his motion, Thug's attorney argued that Glanville had “lost [his] role of an impartial judge and has become a member of the prosecution team”. But the judge quickly dismissed the request, saying it was based on “bare allegations and legal conclusions.”

In his petition to the Supreme Court, Yak Gotti's lawyer, Weinstein, echoed Steel's arguments. He said the charges against the judge “throw heavily” into the ongoing case and represent “an obstruction of the defendant's right to a fair and impartial trial.”

“Defense counsel should have been given an opportunity to attend any hearing where a sworn witness at a critical stage of the trial is compelled to testify,” Weinstein wrote. “The only logical conclusion to the secret nature of the proceedings was to give Glanville in conjunction with the state the unfettered ability to harass and intimidate the sworn witness into testifying.”