Judge presiding over Young Thug trial recused from case

Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville has been removed from overseeing the ongoing gang and racketeering trial against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and his alleged associates.

That decision was made Monday by Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause, weeks after Glanville was scrutinized for holding a secret meeting with prosecutors and a key state witness in chambers. Krause granted the motions filed on behalf of Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, and his co-defendant, Deamonte Kendrick, to recuse Glanville.

In the order granting recusal, Krause said the Fulton clerk should reassign the trial to another judge using the court’s case procedures. The Fulton Clerk of Court confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Judge Shukura Ingram has now been assigned to the case.

Kendrick’s attorney, Doug Weinstein, said in a statement that his client should be granted bond now that Glanville has been removed from the case.

“While we continue to respect Chief Judge Glanville, we agree with Judge Krause that Judge Glanville’s actions at least give the appearance of impropriety. We also maintain that Chief Judge Glanville was biased against Mr. Kendrick and the other defendants in this case,” Weinstein said. “We look forward to trying this case before an unbiased judge to a just conclusion that will free Mr. Kendrick.”

Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel said in a statement they were “grateful” Krause agreed with them and removed Glanville from the case.

“Jeffery Williams is innocent of the charges brought in this indictment and to clear his name he sought a speedy trial, one in which he would receive the constitutional guarantees of a fair trial with an impartial judge presiding and ethical prosecutors following the law,” Steel said. “Sadly, Judge Glanville and the prosecutors have run afoul of their duties under the law.”

District Attorney Fani Willis declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

Atlanta criminal defense attorney Don Samuel said the DA’s office does not have the right to appeal a defendant’s successful motion to recuse a judge.

“There are now a lot of procedural hoops everyone has to go through that are very unique,” said Samuel, who represented Sergio Kitchens, who is known as Gunna and pleaded guilty before the trial began.

Glanville has been presiding over the YSL case since it was indicted in May 2022. It was re-indicted in August 2022, but jury selection didn’t begin until January 2023. After a 10-month jury selection process, opening statements took place in November.

In her order, Krause said she “generally agreed” with Glanville’s assessment regarding the propriety of the June 10 meeting, adding that nothing discussed in the meeting was inherently improper. However, she did note that the meeting could have or perhaps should have been held in open court.

Citing case law, Krause took issue with Glanville’s July 1 comments about the recusal requests. She said he “added facts, provided context, questioned the veracity of allegations, and otherwise explained his decisions and actions and argued why those actions were proper.”

Krause said a judge can disclose information about their potential recusal, but that must be done objectively and without argument.

“This court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, but the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case,” Krause wrote.

Former Judicial Qualifications Commission director Chuck Boring said Ingram will have to look at the case and decide whether to move forward or recuse herself. Then, it is likely that defense attorneys will file a motion for a mistrial, Boring said.

“If a mistrial was granted, they would have to have transcripts prepared of all 18 (months) of trial thus far for the attorneys to review,” Boring said. “If a mistrial is granted, if it’s actually going to be retried, it won’t be for a long, long time.”

Ingram could pick up where Glanville left off, but Boring said it would take months to catch up.

Lester Tate, a former JQC chair, said it will depend on how Ingram rules on the likely motion for a mistrial to see if prosecutors have to start over or, less likely, charges against Young Thug are dismissed with prejudice. That would require finding wrongdoing on behalf of the state.

“I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to see a new judge come in and try to get a handle on the whole case and figure out how the best way is to proceed forward,” Tate said.

June 17 was the last day jurors heard testimony in the case, while Kenneth Copeland was on the stand. It wasn’t until trial reached its 100th day of actual proceedings July 1, that Glanville announced he would pause it to allow a different judge to determine whether he would remain on the case.

Glanville held Steel in contempt after he refused to tell him how he found out about the meeting . Steel and Weinstein then filed motions to recuse the judge.

The defense attorneys called the judge’s conduct improper, contending they had a right to be present for the meeting. They also accused the judge and prosecutors of coercing the reluctant Copeland into testifying by threatening him with indefinite jail time if he refused.

Prosecutors have alleged that YSL stands for “Young Slime Life,” a criminal street gang that is responsible for a number of shootings and incidents in Atlanta, while defense attorneys argue YSL is simply a record label.

— AJC staff writers Tamar Hallerman and Bill Rankin contributed to this article.

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