Sophia Michaels
Fulton County prosecutors plan to call “around 300 witnesses” in the YSL trial, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Today, prosecutor Adriane Love informed Judge Ural Glanville of their extensive witness list during a hearing where Glanville stated that trial on the 56-count RICO indictment will begin on January 9th. He denied the prosecution’s prior motion to delay the trial to March 2023, citing the 28 defendants’ right to a speedy trial.
“Most of these people have no bonds, that is something that weighs heavily on the court in terms of a start date for this trial,” Glanville said at today’s hearing. “They deserve to have a right to go to trial.” Judge Glanville stated that he believed that the trial would take six to nine months, and that he was open to allowing defendants to file motions to separate their trial from the other defendants.
Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, and Gunna, born Sergio Kitchens, are two high-profile defendants in the case, who prosecutors claim are leaders of a YSL (Young Slime Life) criminal street gang in Atlanta. Williams and Kitchens are both charged with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations act (RICO), while Williams is facing six additional gun and drug charges. The case has caused controversy based on the prosecution’s use of music lyrics, music videos, and social media posts as evidence of the alleged conspiracy.
Both of the Grammy-nominated artists have denied the charges, and have repeatedly filed motions for bond. Williams has been denied twice. Kitchens’ lawyers have tried to get bond for their client on four occasions, stating that his name has been removed from association to violent crimes in updates of the 56-count indictment, indicating that he isn’t a risk to harm potential witnesses. Judge Glanville denied his third motion on October 13th for “all four bond factors,” which Kitchens’ lawyers found “inexplicable.” The lawyers then filed a fourth motion for bond.
Williams filed several motions today, including a request to have his indictment thrown out because of prosecutorial misconduct, as Atlanta’s 11Alive news reported. His lawyers claim that Fulton County prosecutors used a fake subpoena to retrieve information about the rapper from Hertz rental service. Prosecutors allege that Williams rented a 2014 Infiniti Q50 sedan that was used in the January 2015 murder of Donovan “Peanut” Thomas Jr outside an Atlanta barber shop. The DA’s office called his accusations “inflammatory” and “meritless.”
His defense also sought to suppress evidence taken from his phones. And in his latest bond motion, his lawyers state that he’s been “languishing in the County Jail since the date of his arrest.”
