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Young Thug, YSL Trial: Jury has the week off, time limit motion filed

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Published  August 19, 2024 10:47am EDT
YSL Trial
FOX 5 Atlanta

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The Young Thug and YSL trial will resume on Aug. 19 without the jury.

The jury will not hear testimony this week due to a previously scheduled break, according to Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker. The time off was arranged by the original case judge, Judge Ural Glanville.

Additionally, the start time for the attorneys and defendants has been pushed back to noon on Aug. 19 and 20.

Kenneth 'Lil Woody' Copeland returned to the stand last week to redo much of his testimony. The jury, who met Judge Whitaker for the first time last Monday, was instructed to disregard Copeland's testimony after 3 p.m. on June 12, the date and time when the motion to recuse Judge Glanville was filed.

Copeland was largely uncooperative on the witness stand, responding to most questions with "I don't recall."

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When he did speak, he often explained that he lied to police in 2015 to avoid going to jail.

However, he appeared to implicate a former friend known as "Threat" in the murder of Donovan "Nut" Thomas.

Copeland told the court that he had given Threat a rental car that was allegedly used in the murder. The car was originally rented by Young Thug (real name Jeffery Williams).

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Copeland also confessed to a drive-by shooting while on the stand last week.

The jury is expected to return next Monday. 

This week, the lawyers and attorneys will continue to work on determining what evidence and testimony should be presented to the jury.

Motion filed to put time limit on state

A motion has been filed on the behalf of defendant Deamonte Kendrick to put a time limit on the State/prosecution. 

The motion asks the Court to prevent the trial from "stretching indefinitely and beyond the reaches of time due to the State’s unpreparedness and inefficiency, and presentation of cumulative evidence causing undue delay, poor decision making by the jury,
as well as harm to Kendrick and other Defendants.

The motion says, "The State has put, and continues to put, this Court, these defendants, and these 16 jurors
through an arduous, tedious journey."

The motion compares the defendants' lives at this time to the Groundhog Day, except they are waking up to go to court instead of waking up to Sonny and Cher. 

The State has told the Court that it intends to present call at least another hundred witnesses to the stand. The motion also claims that the State has only provided a "very generalized description" for each testimony. 

The motion points out that the prosecution does not own the Court and the Court has the discretion to exercise "reasonable control" over the presentation of witnesses and evidence "to avoid needless consumption of time."

Judge Whitaker has already made it obvious that she doesn't think the State has its case very well organized and she has expressed surprise on several occasions after discovering things not taken care of before being discussed in the courtroom. 

Fani Willis criticized

Additionally, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was called out by her opponent in the November election for how the case is being handled.

Courtney Kramer issued a press release calling for the YSL case to be dismissed immediately. 

Kramer stated in her press release that she has become "highly concerned and disappointed in the lack of prosecutorial oversight" in the case.

Kramer said that if she is elected to be the next district attorney for Fulton County, she will dismiss the case immediately. 

Young Thug and 27 others were indicted in 2022 for violating Georgia's RICO or racketeering law and committing multiple violent crimes. Following the longest jury selection in history (10 months), a trial for Young Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) and several co-defendants got underway in November 2023. It is now the longest trial in Georgia history. Prosecutors are attempting to prove that YSL (Young Slime Life) is a criminal street gang responsible for numerous offenses, including murder. The defendants maintain that YSL stands for Young Stoner Life and is the name of a record label founded by Young Thug. Young Thug is facing 8 criminal charges. The trial has been plagued by various disruptions, including illnesses, the arrests of a juror and a lawyer, the stabbing of defendant Shannon Stillwell, the removal of the judge originally assigned to the case, and more.