Chief Judge Ural Glanville, who has presided over the YSL trial from the start, has been removed. Court documents signed by the Honorable Rachel Krause of the Fulton County Superior Court show Judge Glanville’s recusal on motions from Young Thug’s legal team and Deamonte Kendrick’s.
The clerk of the court will assign the next judge. The recusal is effective as of July 15, 2024. It was stated to preserve public confidence in the judicial proceedings. This story is developing.
BREAKING: JUDGE URAL GRANVILLE HAS BEEN RECUSED FROM THE YOUNG THUG AND YSL TRIAL pic.twitter.com/YQd2jkIILq
Judge Ural Glanville has officially been recused from Young Thug and YSL’s ongoing RICO trial. Rachel Krause, the Fulton County Superior Court judge who oversaw the decision, argued Glanville’s recusal is necessary to preserve “the public’s confidence in the judicial system.” The move comes after the rapper’s lawyer, Brian Steel, filed a motion to have him taken off the case due to a controversial ex-parte meeting between himself, the prosecution, and star witness Kenneth Copeland. When Steele learned of the meeting and became livid in the courtroom, Glanville held him in contempt of court.
“Judge Glanville, lawyer Love and lawyer Hylton have prejudiced and tainted Mr. Williams’ trial so deeply as Judge Glanville has not acted as a Judge but morphed into an essential part of the prosecution team,” the defense wrote in its motion. They further described the judge as having had a “secret” meeting with Copeland.
Brian Steel, attorney for rapper Young Thug, arrives at the Fulton County Courthouse on November 27, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Opening statements are set to begin in the case against 31 year old US rapper Young Thug and 28 others, who are facing a racketeering indictment accusing the defendants of a number of offenses that support an overarching conspiracy charge, including murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing, and theft. (Photo by Christian Monterrosa / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite the defense’s anger about the ex-parte meeting, it’s not what directly caused Glanville’s recusal. In fact, Krause noted in the order that she agreed with Glanville about there being nothing inappropriate about the meeting. However, she says the way he handled the backlash to the situation and his initial denial of motions to recuse has caused the public to lose confidence in his handling of the trial.
Judge Ural Glanville Recused From Young Thug Trial
Worth noting that in her order, Judge Krause agrees with Glanville that nothing about the ex parte meeting was inappropriate. She granted the motions to recuse due to the way he denied the motions to recuse and out of necessity to preserve public confidence in the judiciary pic.twitter.com/2erpFUiDkG
Judge Ural Glanville intends to hold a meeting to get to the bottom of who told Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, about the controversial ex parte meeting with himself, the prosecution, and witness Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland. On Tuesday, he announced in an order to show cause that everyone present for the conversation will have to demonstrate they didn’t leak the information or otherwise be held in contempt. The meeting will go down on June 25th.
When Steel learned about the ex parte meeting, he became furious in the courtroom on Monday, demanding a mistrial and labeling it unconstitutional. Copeland previously planned not to testify after agreeing on an immunity deal that relied on taking the stand. “You’re not supposed to have communication with a witness who’s been sworn,” Steel argued. “… If that’s true what this is is coercion, witness intimidation, ex parte communications that we have a constitutional right to be present for.”
Brian Steel, attorney for rapper Young Thug, right, arrives at the Fulton County Courthouse on November 27, 2023, in Atlanta. Georgia. Opening statements are set to begin in the case against 31-year-old US rapper Young. Thug and 28 others, who are facing a racketeering indictment accusing the defendants of a number of offenses that support an overarching conspiracy charge, including murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing, as well as theft. (Photo by Christian MONTERROSA / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
“I still want to know, how did you come upon this information,” Glanville fired back. “Who told you?” He eventually decided to hold Steel in contempt of court, sentencing him to 10 weekends in jail. “You don’t get to extort the court. It doesn’t work that way,” he said. Steel also successfully requested that he spend the jail time in the same cell as his client if his appeal fails.
Thug’s trial kicked off back in November 2023 and has already become the longest-running proceeding in Georgia’s history. Be on the lookout for further updates on Young Thug, Brian Steel, and the YSL RICO trial on HotNewHipHop.
