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By Andrew Stanton
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis scored a victory Friday in rapper Young Thug's trial in Georgia when a new judge ruled against one of the defendants.
Willis' office is prosecuting the rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, and 27 others for gang-related crimes, based on Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. The defendants are accused of being members of the Atlanta-based gang Young Slim Life, colloquially known as YSL.
The charges are similar to those in Donald Trump's election interference case brought by Willis, and some legal experts see the YSL case as a warning about what the DA might be facing in her prosecution of the former president.
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On Friday, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker denied a motion from defendant Deamonte Kendrick seeking a mistrial, according to court documents reported on by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Attorneys representing Kendrick, a rapper signed to Williams' label, raised concerns about an ex parte meeting between Willis' office and Judge Ural Glanville, who was overseeing the trial at the time.
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Whitaker wrote that concerns about whether Glanville "revealed his partiality to the State" during that meeting have been "mooted by the recusal of that judge from the case."
Newsweek reached out to Kendrick's attorney via his firm's contact form and Willis' office via email for comment.
The YSL case has veered into chaos and garnered national attention following the meeting attended by Glanville, prosecutors, state witness Kenneth Copeland and his attorneys. Criticism over the meeting ultimately led Glanville to recuse himself from the case amid concerns that the meeting could have put the trial at risk.
Brian Steel, an attorney representing Williams, previously said the meeting proved that Glanville had "become a member of the prosecution team" since he held a gathering that allowed Willis' team "to induce a material witness to testify."
The meeting is not the only moment from the trial that has raised eyebrows.
In April, Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love got into a heated exchange with Glanville after he sided with the defense and ruled that the evidence Love wanted to introduce would be excluded.
As Love began to express her frustrations with the ruling, Glanville told her, "Well, then you all should have gotten yourself together beforehand," before telling the court to summon the jury. The judge then turned back to Love, saying, "Have a seat, madam. Have a seat. You better exclude that, and next time, make sure you're prepared."
Days after the exchange, Glanville also warned prosecutors that their behavior could land them in jail.
"My colleagues in federal court would probably jail most of you, and for those of you who have practiced in federal court, this is not the way it goes," Glanville said. "From the state's perspective as well as the defense perspective, everything's filed in advance. So why should you do anything less in this courtroom?"
Later that month, Love was accused of "lying" to the judge by a lawyer representing Williams.
Update 8/9/24, 11 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
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