The judge in a case prosecuted by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis has been replaced and a new judge assigned after it was revealed that he met with a witness and prosecutors without the defense being present.
Superior Court Judge Rachel Krause ruled Monday to grant a defense motion to remove Judge Ural Glanville. The case, which has been going on since November, was reassigned almost immediately to Judge Shukura Ingram.
"This court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter it the recusal motions were denied," Krause wrote. "But 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."
Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, and 27 other defendants were indicted on racketeering, drug, and gun charges for allegedly participating in the street gang Young Slime Life, or YSL, which is also the name of Williams' record label.
Williams claims the label stands for Young Stoner Life, and is not related to the gang, however.
The case blew apart when defense attorney Bryan Steel somehow found out that witness Lil Woody, whose real name is Kenneth Copeland, and prosecutors met with the judge on June 10 but excluded defense counsel.
The meeting concerned threats to jail Copeland if he continued to refuse to testify.
The judge then demanded to know how Steel found out about the meeting and held him in contempt when he refused to say. He sentenced Steel to 20 days in jail, but an appeals court threw out the jail sentence.
Willis is better known as the prosecutor who charged former President Donald Trump with similar racketeering charges as well as obstruction for allegedly trying to overturn election results in Georgia between November 2020 and January 2021.
That case is on hold while an appeal of a ruling against replacing Willis is heard. A hearing in that appeal was just scheduled for December, meaning the case won't move forward until after the election.
At issue then will be whether any of the charges can still go forward after the Supreme Court ruled former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution for official acts during their tenure.
Trump's team asked for Willis to be replaced after it was discovered that she was engaged in a sexual relationship with her lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
The relationship is still being investigated, particularly the question of whether any funds were diverted to Wade that were then spent on vacations for the two of them.
Willis has denied all wrongdoing in the matter, and Wade stepped down from the case after a judge ruled that both of them could not stay on it.
