The Young Thug RICO trial took an unexpected turn on June 10 when the judge threw the recording artist’s attorney in jail on contempt charges.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Judge Ural Glanville ordered Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel to be thrown in jail after a confrontation in court. Steel found out about a conversation between the judge, prosecutors, and one of the witnesses who is testifying where the witness was allegedly told that if he did not cooperate, he could be jailed for up to two years.
Glanville told Steel that he had been given information he should not have been privy to and wanted to know how he discovered what was said.
“You got some information you shouldn’t have gotten,” Glanville said from the bench.
Steel admonished the judge because the defense attorney wasn’t included in the conversation.
“You’re not supposed to have communication with a witness who’s been sworn,” Steel told Glanville.
The reluctant witness, Kenneth Copeland, refused to answer questions at trial last week and spent the weekend in jail after not giving testimony on June 7. He was previously given immunity based on the testimony he was going to give. After spending the weekend in jail, he was brought to the witness stand on June 10.
“How about the witness? How about Mr. Copeland, who supposedly announced that 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,” Steel stated at trial. He then said he had heard that one of the prosecutors, Simone Hylton, told Copeland that he could be imprisoned until all 26 defendants have been placed on trial.“If that’s true, what this is is coercion, witness intimidation, and ex parte communications that we have a constitutional right to be present for,” Steel told Glanville.
During a contentious exchange, Glanville demanded Steel reveal how he found out about the discussion. Steel expressed that he should have been present for the conversation, but refused to tell the judge how he found out about what took place. After going back and forth, the judge threatened to throw him in jail for contempt. Steel did not back down and was arrested and taken from court.
Glanville sentenced the attorney to 20 days in jail, and he is slated to spend the next 10 weekends at the Fulton County Jail. Since Steel will be in jail, he requested to spend that time with Young Thug so they can work on the case together. The judge granted Steel that request.
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