The Judge Presiding Over the Young Thug Trial Has Been Dismissed — There's a New One in Town

The already long-winded legal proceedings surrounding Young Thug have gotten even more complicated. The Atlanta rapper was arrested in May 2022 and charged with racketeering, as well as a host of other crimes related to his status as an alleged co-founder of the YSL street gang. His trial finally began in November 2023 and has been fraught with controversy. In July 2023 the judge in the Young Thug trial was removed from the case. Here's what we know.

The judge in the Young Thug trial held a meeting with a state witness and prosecutors.

According to Court TV , Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville was asked by two defendants to recuse himself after it was revealed he had a meeting with prosecutors as well as a state witness. This request was made in early July 2024 to which Judge Glanville put the case on hold while Judge Rachel Krause reviewed the motion for dismissal.

On July 15, 2024, Judge Krause decided to grant the motions and "ordered the clerk of court to assign the case to a different judge." In her decision, Judge Krause wrote she had "no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter, but the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville."

Judge Glanville cooperated fully by handing the transcripts of the meeting over to Judge Krause and maintained there was nothing improper about this encounter. The office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis agreed with Judge Glanville and said there was no need for him to recuse himself. While Judge Krause understood that in all likelihood nothing inappropriate was said, she said it should have taken place in "open court."

Judge Shukura Ingram will now be presiding over the Young Thug trial.

Judge Shukura Ingram will replace Judge Glanville and according to Fox 5 Atlanta, her first order of business will be deciding whether or not they should continue with the trial or, start over. It was only in its 100th day when the case was put on hold. This came after jury selection took an astounding 10 months.

If Judge Ingram chooses to move forward, the trial will be in more than capable hands. She was appointed to the Fulton County Superior Court in 2018 by former Gov. Nathan Deal after Judge Alford Dempsey Jr. resigned. Prior to that, she was a judge for the Magistrate Court of Fulton County from 2015 to 2018. She was previously an assistant solicitor for Atlanta's City Court followed by her time as an assistant district attorney for the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

Her work in the private sector includes cases that range from wrongful death and medical malpractice to personal injury as well as insurance defense. Judge Shukura is currently a member of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys and Georgia Association for Women Attorneys. At one point she was a board chair of the Atlanta Board of Ethics as well as a member of the Atlanta Judicial Commission. If anyone can finally land this trial, it's Judge Shukura.