Young Thug, YSL Trial: Judge Krause denies motion to recuse herself

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FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause has denied the motion to recuse herself from deciding whether a fellow judge should be removed from the massive racketeering trial of GRAMMY Award-winning rapper Young Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) and several of his associates.

Brian Steel, representing Young Thug, filed the motion based on two factors: Judge Glanville is a colleague, and he made a $2,000 campaign donation to Judge Krause in 2024.

In her denial, Judge Krause emphasized that the court must consider whether a motion for recusal is timely, legally sufficient, and if the affidavit sets forth facts warranting recusal.

Krause stated that the court found the motion timely and legally sufficient but determined that the donation does not warrant recusal as it was not exceptionally large and no additional facts were presented to demonstrate the need for recusal.

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According to Krause, the Georgia Supreme Court and the Code of Judicial Conduct indicate that standard campaign contributions do not necessitate recusal unless additional compelling circumstances are demonstrated.

Editor's Note: The original motion for recusal indicated that Judge Krause had also donated to Judge Glanville. However, that has been amended to reflect she did not donate to his campaign.

The court also found that Williams' reference to the Judicial Qualification Commission Opinion 220 does not apply since Judge Glanville is neither a party nor counsel in the case.

Judge Krause did not address the fact that she and Judge Glanville are colleagues. However, she did point out that she was randomly assigned to the case.

The original motion to remove Judge Glanville was filed by Steel after an ex parte meeting on June 10 between the judge, prosecutors from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, and state witness Kenneth Copeland, who was refusing to testify, came to light. Steel has since filed a supplemental motion to also have the prosecutors removed.

Prosecutors respond to Judge Glanville recusal motion

Judge Krause ordered the state to submit a reply to the motion last week. Their initial deadline was 5 p.m. Monday. However, they requested an extension and were given a new deadline of 5 p.m. Wednesday. They submitted a 9-page response 42 minutes after the deadline.

In their response, the prosecutors argued that none of the facts in the motion warranted the judge's removal, including that the alleged bias must stem from an extrajudicial source, not from the judge's participation in the case. They also argued that the defense attorneys were not legally required to participate in the in-chambers meeting where they had no standing or legal interest and that the meeting only concerned Copeland's contempt proceedings and did not involve the defendants on trial.

Who is Judge Rachel Krause?

Judge Rachel R. Krause was appointed to the bench in 2018 by Gov. Nathan Deal and elected to a full term in 2020. Before her appointment, Judge Krause had an extensive legal career, including work as a partner at the law firms Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and Ford & Harrison. Her experience spans various legal fields, including civil litigation, commercial litigation, and appellate work.

Judge Krause was left partially paralyzed by a car crash at the age of 17. Undeterred, she finished high school and went on to college. Judge Krause graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in political science and earned her law degree from the Mercer University School of Law. She has been involved in several professional and community organizations. She also serves as an accountability court judge and is on several committees, including the Case Management Committee, the Business Court Committee, and the court's Executive Committee.

She is married with three children and a member of Holy Spirit Church where she has taught Sunday school.

During her campaign for re-election, Krause stated that a successful second term for her would be to continue to balance justice with fairness as a judge in individual cases, as well as advancing the interests of the judiciary and the bar as a whole.