In June 2024, lawyers for YSL co-defendant Deamonte Kendrick, known as Yak Gotti, asked the Georgia Supreme Court to halt the RICO trial and send the question of Judge Ural Glanville’s recusal to another judge. The court declined that emergency request on procedural grounds. It was Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause who later granted the recusal motions and ordered Glanville removed from the case.
Why did the lawyers ask the Georgia Supreme Court to remove the judge?
On June 21, 2024, Kendrick’s lawyers, Doug Weinstein and Katie Hingerty, sought emergency relief after a June 10 meeting in Judge Glanville’s chambers involving prosecutors and state witness Kenneth Copeland. Their petition asked the court to pause the trial, require Glanville to refer the recusal question to another judge, and provide an unredacted transcript of the meeting. The filing alleged serious concerns about judicial conduct and the defendants’ right to a fair trial; those were defense allegations, not findings by the Supreme Court. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the petition and its claims.
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The request came from lawyers for Kendrick, a co-defendant—not solely from Young Thug’s legal team. The dispute centered on the defense’s concern that the private meeting could affect Copeland’s testimony and the fairness of the proceedings.
What was the private meeting about?
Copeland was a state witness who had been jailed after initially refusing to testify and later took the stand. Defense lawyers said they had not been present at the June 10 meeting and alleged that Copeland had been pressured to testify. The AJC reported that Glanville told Copeland: “The immunity has been signed so you are required to testify. If you don’t testify, the state is probably going to ask me to jail you and I’m probably going to do that.” The defense characterized the meeting as improper; the quoted account alone does not establish that characterization or resolve the legal significance of the meeting.
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Did the Georgia Supreme Court remove Judge Glanville?
No. On June 27, the Georgia Supreme Court declined the emergency request because Kendrick had not first pursued the proper route in superior court. The court said he was required to seek a stand-alone mandamus petition there before asking the state’s highest court for original mandamus relief. It explained that another judge would consider the petition and that either side could appeal the resulting decision. The court’s ruling addressed the route for seeking relief; it did not decide whether the defense’s recusal allegations were true or false. The AJC reported the court’s procedural explanation.
Who ultimately recused Judge Glanville?
On July 15, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause granted the recusal motions and ordered Glanville removed from the YSL case, with reassignment to follow. Krause wrote that she had “no doubt” Glanville could continue presiding fairly if the motions were denied, but concluded that “the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case.” Thus, the removal came through another superior-court judge’s decision on the recusal motions, not through the Supreme Court’s June emergency ruling. Axios Atlanta reported Krause’s order and rationale.
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What happened to Brian Steel’s contempt ruling?
That was a separate matter. After Young Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel raised the June 10 meeting in court and declined to say how he had learned about it, Glanville held him in criminal contempt and sentenced him to 20 days in jail, to be served over 10 weekends. The Georgia Supreme Court later reversed the contempt ruling. It held that due process required Glanville to recuse himself from the contempt proceeding because the alleged disobedience was directed toward the court and the court was involved in the controversy underlying the contempt. The reversal concerned Steel’s contempt case; it was distinct from Kendrick’s June request to stop the trial. The Associated Press reported the Supreme Court’s decision.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the case change later in 2024?
The June dispute is a historical procedural episode, not a description of an ongoing trial. Young Thug pleaded guilty in October 2024 and was sentenced to time served plus 15 years of probation. By November 19, prosecutors had rested their case against the two remaining defendants, and Judge Paige Reese Whitaker was presiding after Glanville’s July removal. The AP reported the later plea, sentence, and status of the remaining trial.
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