AllHipHop reported that Young Thug's lawyer, Brian Steel, was held in contempt by Judge Ural Glanville, the presiding judge of the rapper's controversial RICO YSL Trial.
On Monday, June 10, 2024, Steel addressed Judge Glanville, asking about an alleged private conversation between him, the prosecution, and witness Kenneth "Lil Woody" Copeland.
Copeland was behind bars over the weekend after refusing to testify on Young Thug's June 7, 2024, trial. Prosecutors then put him back on the witness stand on June 10, but he remained tight-lipped.
During the lunch break, Steel approached the court and confronted the judge about the alleged meeting that took place in the judge's chambers with Copeland without the defense's knowledge.
In the meeting, Steel revealed that Copeland allegedly admitted that he killed Donovan "Nut" Thomas, which is a crucial incident in the trial.
"How about the witness, how about Mr. Copeland, who supposedly announced he's not testifying and he'll sit for two years and, supposedly this honorable court - or let me rephrase that - this court, said I can hold you until the end of this trial ... If true, what this is - is coercion [and] witness intimation," Steel shared to the court.
Glanville was "furious" at Steel's revelation and demanded that he reveal how he found out about the meeting. Steel then rebuffed Glanville's request to reveal his source and asked for a mistrial.
The judge held Steel in contempt, and he was arrested out of the courtroom. Eventually, Steel's co-counsel, Keith Adams, asserted and objected to the trial moving forward without Steel.
"You don't get to extort the court," Judge Glanville argued. "It doesn't work that way."
In May 2022, Young Thug was among the 28 associates of the alleged YSL Records (Young Slime Life Gang) indicted in a 56-count RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act indictment by the Fulton County District Attorney's office in Atlanta.
Since his 2022 arrest, Young Thug has been denied bond release several times because he reportedly held a commanding position in the alleged gang in Atlanta.
Young Thug has been accused of running a covert Atlanta gang called "Young Slime Life," masked by his record label/music collective called "Young Stoner Life."
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