Who is Young Thug’s judge, and why is he in so much hot water?

Judge Ural Glanville is facing motions to remove himself from America’s most watched criminal trial.

Judge Ural Glanville has been accused by defense attorneys of running a courtroom “like communist Russia”; yelled at a Fulton County prosecutor to “have a seat, madam!”; and threw the prosecution’s star witness into the slammer for a weekend seconds after he pleaded the Fifth on the stand.

Oh, and he also would love to see a defense attorney in America’s most watched criminal trial in jail for 20 days, but the Supreme Court of Georgia shot that down, at least temporarily.

Now, Fulton County’s chief superior court judge - a man who holds the rank of brigadier general, chief judge in the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals - is facing a possible dismissal from the trial of Jeffery Williams, aka Young Thug. His fate on the trial rests in the hands of his bench colleague, Judge Rachel Krause.

Glanville, who has served on the court since 2005 and is also the chief judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, is overseeing the trial for the critically acclaimed rapper who is facing gang-related charges and a grand jury indictment after his name appeared on a list with 27 others.

Glanville served on the magistrate court of Fulton County from 1995 to 2004. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Georgia in 1984 and a juris doctor, also from UGA, in 1987. He earned a master’s in strategic studies at the U.S. Army War College in 2008.

Glanville has served as a commanding general in the NATO Rule of Law Support Mission/Rule of Law Field Force-Afghanistan. He has also served in private practice; as an adjunct professor at the Georgia State University School of Law; a senior trial prosecutor in the DeKalb County’s Solicitor’s Office; a defense attorney in the U.S. Army; and a probation officer in the Georgia Department of Corrections in Fulton County.

Glanville also has an emotional support dog named Jack, whom he has pleaded with jurors not to feed.

But the trial has been on hold since July 1, when Glanville forwarded motions calling for his removal to another judge, who has since turned out to be Krause.

Since witness testimony began this past November, Glanville has denied numerous motions from attorneys representing Young Thug and his co-defendants and withstood claims in court that he’s biased against them. As the trial has dragged on, he has repeatedly admonished prosecutors and defense attorneys to work together to share each side’s witness lists and come to court prepared each day.

At the center of the trial’s latest delay is a June 10, 2024, ex parte meeting held between Glanville, two Fulton County prosecutors, star prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland (aka Woody or Lil’ Woody) and his stand-in attorney, Kayla Bumpus. (The legal term ex parte, translated from Latin as “out of the party,” refers to a decision made by a judge without requiring all parties in a dispute to be present.)

Last week, Glanville released that meeting’s timeline and transcript, a meeting that later that day, resulted in Young Thug attorney Brian Steel being held in contempt of court.

On June 7, 2024, Copeland himself was jailed for refusing to testify. Copeland is widely believed to have informed police of alleged crimes committed by Young Thug and the alleged YSL gang.

By the following Monday, Copeland had changed his tune and agreed to testify.

Then Glanville ordered Steel to be held in contempt after Steel told Glanville, in open court, he had learned of the ex parte meeting that was held without any other defense attorneys’ knowledge or forewarning. Glanville demanded to know how Steel had learned of that meeting, and Steel refused to disclose his source. That’s when Glanville ordered Steel arrested.

By Monday, Copeland had changed his tune and agreed to testify. Then Glanville ordered Steel be held in contempt, a ruling that has since been suspended by the Supreme Court of Georgia.

Steel and Young Thug’s other attorney, Keith Adams, have repeatedly moved for a mistrial, as have attorneys for some of the other defendants in the trial. Glanville had been denying all of the repeated motions, as well as motions from Steel and other attorneys to recuse himself from the trial, at least, until last week.

The trial’s jury selection lasted longer than any other in Georgia history, and actual witness testimony itself will likely surpass state records. Both records were set by the Atlanta Public Schools teacher scandal and trial of 2014-15.

Prosecutors are attempting to show YSL, or Young Slime Life, is a criminal street gang responsible for numerous offenses. Defense attorneys say YSL is not a gang but simply the name of a record label, Young Stoner Life.

Young Thug himself is facing eight criminal counts under a federal law that was originally enacted to fight organized crime. Georgia is one of 33 states that has its own RICO law, but in the Peach State, the alleged criminal enterprises do not have to have existed as long as the federal law.

The trial – which has been repeatedly plagued by arrests, charges and disruptions – began on Nov. 27, 2023. Defense attorneys have repeatedly raised concerns that the trial could go on for years based on the number of witnesses the state plans to call up.

Williams is also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; possession of codeine with intent to distribute; possession of cocaine; possession of a firearm; and possession of a machine gun.

Attorneys for Williams argue the artist is not the leader of an alleged gang like prosecutors claim.

A total of 18 jurors have been selected, with six of them being alternates. Two jurors have already been excused; one had a medical emergency, and the other moved out of Fulton County.

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