The trial of rapper Young Thug is a good indicator of what might happen in the Georgia trial of Donald Trump, a lawyer has said.
The slow-moving, drama-filled trial of Young Thug is now the longest running in Georgia state history. Like Trump, Young Thug is charged under Georgia’s Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations [RICO] Act, which is designed to tackle organized crime. Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, which covers most of Atlanta, is prosecuting both cases. Newsweek sought email comment from Willis’ office on Monday.
Attorney David Lat wrote in his Original Jurisdiction legal blog on Sunday that the Young Thug trial offers valuable insights into how the Trump case would be prosecuted.
“Keep an eye on this case. It’s a giant RICO trial of a famous defendant, being tried in Fulton County, Georgia, by District Attorney Fani Willis—just like State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump.
“So when the Trump case starts moving forward again—right now it’s on hold by order of the Georgia Court of Appeals, which is hearing Trump’s appeal of Judge Scott McAfee’s order declining to disqualify Willis from the case—the Young Thug case could offer us hints of what might lie ahead,” Lat wrote.
Young Thug and 27 other people were indicted on charges of conspiring to violate Georgia’s RICO Act for alleged membership of a street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which also stands for the name of Young Thug’s record label, Young Stoner Life.
Young Thug, real name Jeffery Lamar Williams, is also facing drug and gun indictments. Prosecutors say he frequently boasted about YSL in his rap songs, some of which have hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. Williams denies all charges against him and says in his defense that he is no gangster in real life and the lifestyle is simply adopted as part of his act to help sell a product.
Willis also indicted Trump, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and 17 others for alleged fraud in Georgia in the 2020 presidential election. All of the accused pleaded not guilty, but at least four are now cooperating with authorities. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Lat said that there will be one big difference between the Trump and Young Thug trials. “I predict Judge Scott McAfee, who’s overseeing the Trump case, will do a better job of running the trial than Judge Glanville is doing here,” he wrote.
Newsweek sought email comment from Glanville and from Donald Trump’s attorney on Monday.
Lat said that the Young Thug trial has been moving extremely slowly, which may be a reflection of how the Trump trial will be conducted.
“Young Thug’s trial began in January 2023—yes, 2023—and picking a jury took 10 months. Opening statements happened last November, and now, seven months later, the prosecution is maybe halfway through its witness list,” he added.
“At 18 months, the trial is already the longest in Georgia state history—and defense lawyers project it could go into 2025,” Lat wrote.
He added that “last week, the trial went off the rails—or even more off the rails, if that’s possible.”
“On Monday, Judge Ural Glanville took the remarkable step of holding Young Thug’s lead lawyer, Brian Steel, in contempt. I can’t recall a high-profile case from the past 50 years where a defense lawyer was held in contempt—and given a jail sentence—in the middle of trial,” he wrote.
Steel was found in contempt for refusing to tell Glanville how he knew the details of a closed-door meeting Glanville had with prosecutors and Kenneth Copeland, the chief witness in the case.
The previous weekend, Copeland, aka Lil Woody, was jailed for contempt for refusing to testify in the case.
He agreed to testify after the meeting with Glanville but gave very disruptive evidence in which he said he didn’t recall key events and repeatedly yawned and napped through his testimony.
Georgia attorney Ashleigh Merchant has been involved in both cases. She represents Trump’s co-accused, Mike Roman, and she also intervened to represent Steel when he was found in contempt.
Speaking to Greta Van Susteren on the conservative news channel, Newsmax, on Sunday, Merchant said she rushed to court with about two dozen lawyers and paralegals to help Steel when he was found in contempt.
She added that, as president of the Georgia defense lawyers’ association, she sent a “strike force” to help Steel, but only she was allowed into court.
Merchant said this was “insane” as there were many empty seats in the public gallery where the other people with her could have been allowed to sit.
The Georgia Court of Appeal later agreed to stay Steel’s jail time while it hears his appeal.
On the Trump trial, Merchant said that the case is also being considered by a higher court.
She said he had just heard that Willis’ office had filed a motion urging the appeal court to return the case to trial and not hear Trump’s arguments that she should be removed from the case.
Uncommon Knowledge
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