Young Thug trial: Defence loses day-one bid for mistrial in YSL Rico case

Has the case been controversial?

The use of lyrics from rappers associated with YSL and Young Thug in the case has been an ongoing point of contention.

Earlier this month, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville ruled that he would allow prosecutors to introduce 17 sets of lyrics, as long as they can show that the lyrics are related to crimes that the rapper and other defendants are accused of committing.

Defence attorneys had asked the judge to exclude them, arguing the lyrics are constitutionally protected speech and would be unfairly prejudicial.

The trial will continue after lunch

After a series of delays and objections, the judge sent the jury to lunch until 1.45pm.

The latest delay occurred after the defence team took issue with one of the slides that the prosecutors showed the jury, saying they hadn’t seen the slide ahead of the trial, which violated the judge’s order last week.

The judge then required the prosecution to send over all of the slides it planned to use while the defence reviewed it, causing another delay.

How long has Young Thug been behind bars?

Young Thug has been in prison since his arrest in May 2022.

Earlier this month, a jury was finally selected after almost one year – with over 2,000 people having been summoned to possibly serve.

Now, opening statements in the trial are set to begin on 27 November.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the trial could end up being the longest in Georgia’s history.

The YSL Rico trial has been anything but dull — even on its first day of opening arguments.

A late juror delayed the trial by an hour and a half.

Then, during its opening statement, the prosecution faced three objections from the defence, all of which were sustained.

The defence motioned for a mistrial, because it hadn’t seen all of the slides that the prosecution was showing the jury, but the bid was denied.

The judge scolded both sides for the turbulent trial start: “I’m not happy about any of this.”

Judge denied motion for mistrial

The judge said he denied the motion. Mr Steel then argued that he didn’t receive the displays used by the prosecution ahead of the trial. Ms Love said it was an “inadvertent omission.”

The judge then got testy. He said “I’m not happy about any of this,” as the jury was delayed again and the defence’s sidebar earlier. The judge instructed prosecutors to hand over any additional slides that she hasn’t provided the defence team in the next five minutes.

The defence team now has a few minutes to review the unseen slides.

Defence attorney motions for mistrial

Mr Williams’ defence attorney Brian Steel is moving for a mistrial because prosecutor Adriane Love’s team presented a slide on the screen, shown to jurors, that indicated that Mr Steel represented Rodalius Ryan in another case.

‘Four-hour-long indictment’

The prosecution said that it took the judge four hours to read the 65-count indictment last year.

Young Thug is charged with eight of those 65 counts.

Prosecutor described Young Thug as the leader of the “pack”

Adriane Love, the state prosecutor, explained the history of YSL and how it operates, emphasising the rapper’s leadership role.

YSL came from ROC [Raised on Cleaveland] Crew. Ms Love said that Mr Williams, aka Young Thug, became one of its leaders.

“There will be no evidence of a written contract…because this was a group of people…who used common colors and symbols to communicate to one another and identify to the rest of the world,” Ms Love explained.

The associates of YSL moved like a pack, “with the defendant Jeffery Williams as its head.”

The evidence will show that “YSL checks all the boxes of being a criminal street gang,” she said.

Prosecutor Adriane Love opened up with quote from The Jungle Book.

“YSL operated as a pack,” she said. For 10 years and counting, the group calling itself Young Slime Life dominated the Cleaveland Avenue community of Fulton County. They created a crater…that sucked the youth, the innocence, and even the lives of some of its members.”

Born in 1991 as Jeffrey Lamar Williams, Young Thug is an Atlanta-born rapper. He also goes by the name Slime.

After starting his career at the age of 19, he signed with Gucci Mane’s record label, and went on to become one of the most influential artists on the contemporary hip-hop and trap music scene.

His first two albums “So Much Fun”, in 2019, and “Punk”, in 2021, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, as did his 2021 joint compilation album with Gunna, “Slime Language 2”.

Young Thug has also featured in multiple collaborations that have earned him several number one hits.

These include guest spots on Camila Cabello’s Havana in 2018, Travis Scott and MIA’s Franchise in 2020 and Drake and Future’s Way 2 Sexy in 2021, all of which topped the Billboard Hot 100.

He also co-wrote the hit song This Is America with Childish Gambino, real name Donald Glover, which became the first hip-hop track to win Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2019.