‘May undermine the public’s confidence’: Second judge recuses from Young Thug RICO case over allegations involving courthouse deputy and YSL co-defendant

Another swing for the Fulton County criminal justice system has resulted in yet another miss. Even more errors seem likely.

On Wednesday, the second judge selected to oversee the long-bogged down racketeering (RICO) prosecution against Jeffery “Young Thug” Williams — and over a dozen other co-defendants — recused from the case after serving in that fraught role for less than two days.

And now, the third judge randomly placed in charge of the high-profile proceeding may not find herself lasting very long there either.

On Monday afternoon, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause decided recusal motions in favor of Williams and another defendant. She found that “preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system” necessitated the removal of long-alleged-to-be biased Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural D. Glanville.

Glanville, who had been in charge of the case since it came to court, waged an all-out fight to stay. And that battle was his undoing. In publicly trying to dispute the charges leveled against him in the recusal motions, the judge repeatedly violated long-standing judicial rules established by higher-up Peach State courts, Krause ruled.

Late on Monday, the case was reassigned to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura L. Ingram, who has been a judge since 2015.

By Wednesday morning, Ingram took herself off the job.

There were initially 28 co-defendants named by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the sprawling 86-page RICO indictment filed in May 2022. Since then, many defendants have taken plea deals or had their cases severed, leaving Williams and five others left in the ongoing — but currently in limbo — trial. In total, 18 alleged members of the purported “YSL” gang, which the defendants maintain is not actually a gang in the criminal sense, face criminal charges.

In June 2023, co-defendant Christian Eppinger was severed from the case. Ingram took stock of why this severance was more or less mandated — and how it directly affected her own court staff.

Her recusal motion reads:

Although there is no severance order in the record, the Court was apprised of the circumstances that directly led to Eppinger’s severance. More specifically, the deputy assigned to and responsible for the courtroom and personal security of the undersigned for nearly six months, was arrested. Said deputy, who was still assigned to this Court at the time of her arrest, is accused of (1) colluding with Defendant Eppinger (during the current trial) to commit a felony and (2) endangering the safety of citizens within the Fulton County courthouse. Because this Court’s former assigned deputy could be called as a witness in any future proceedings in this case, the Court may be called upon to assess this deputy’s credibility, or rule on matters related to her criminal prosecution. This may undermine the public’s confidence in the impartiality of the proceedings.

Ingram, however, was careful to note that she did not regard her deputy’s legal trouble “as creating any actual bias for or against any party” in the case, but said the situation “could cause a reasonable person” to ask such questions and “reasonably give rise to the appearance of impropriety should the Court remain on the case.”

After that abundance of caution-inspired recusal, the YSL RICO case was randomly assigned to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker later on Wednesday morning.

Whitaker was formerly a prosecutor with Fulton County and the Georgia Attorney General’s Office. She has been a judge since 2017.

One issue with the third assignment quickly cropped up.

In April 2022, three defense attorneys currently working on the case — David Botts, Bruce Harvey, and Brian Steel — co-hosted a reelection fundraiser for Whitaker. Ten other self-identified “criminal defense leaders” in Georgia also co-hosted that steak dinner.

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