Young Thug's attorney cites 'horror' in push to disqualify prosecutors
Brian Steel, Adriane Love, Simone Hylton
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Young Thug's attorney, Brian Steel, has filed an additional motion to disqualify Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love and Deputy District Attorney Simone Hylton from prosecuting his client in a massive RICO trial in Fulton County.
According to the supplemental motion, Steel is requesting the court to consider the case of Ford Motor Co. v. Young in 2013 when deciding on the removal of the prosecutors.
The supplemental motion states, "The enormity of violations of candor with the Court, candor with counsel, and the denial of ethical prosecutors in this case are too much to permit lawyers Love and Hylton to continue as lawyers in this litigation."
The motion lists the following examples:
Frivolous Motion: Lawyer Love repeatedly filed a motion asserting that the defense had a "duty" to provide work product, despite knowing this was untrue. This was the fourth time Love raised this issue, citing cases that did not support her claims.
False Statements: In an ex-parte motion, Love falsely claimed that a defense meeting influenced Kenneth Copeland’s decision to invoke the Fifth Amendment, despite no defense lawyer having any involvement with Copeland around the stated date.
Violation of Court Orders: Lawyer Love presented a different demonstrative aid during opening statements than the one shared with the defense beforehand, violating a court order. She also improperly introduced the fact that the defense counsel had represented another person charged in the case.
False Accusations: Love accused defense counsel of fabricating evidence regarding the transportation of Mr. Bean to Grady Hospital, which was later proven false.
Misrepresentation: Love falsely claimed that only the defendant's voice was heard in a social media posting, which was later proven to include multiple voices.
Tampering Allegations: Love falsely accused the defense of tampering with jail recordings of Copeland, despite no evidence to support her claims.
Brady Violations: Lawyers Love and Hylton, with the assistance of the now-recused judge, allegedly attempted to hide exculpatory evidence obtained during an unlawful ex-parte meeting with Copeland, where Copeland admitted to lying and committing all crimes in the indictment.
The motion concludes by stating that the above does not "truly encapsulate the horror of working with lawyer Love and lawyer Hylton."
Steel spoke for several minutes in court on Monday about the difficulty of working with the prosecutors from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.
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The motion was filed shortly before 3 p.m. on Aug. 6.
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Young Thug and his co-defendants were indicted for racketeering and numerous other charges in 2022. Following the longest jury selection in history (10 months), the trial got underway in November 2023. It is the longest trial in Georgia history. 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.