In the high-profile never ending Young Thug YSL RICO trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys had an official chat with the judge in a closed-door session on Monday as the court weighs a motion for mistrial.
To be a fly in that room. Wouldn’t that be something.
The trial, which is the longest in the history of Georgia, began in January 2023 with a jury selection process lasting nearly ten months, sheesh. The trial has been marked by intense moments, including courtroom arrests and allegations of clandestine meetings.
Get this, the media and public were barred from Monday’s proceedings, though 11Alive reported seeing several attorneys and prosecutors enter the room. Court proceedings are expected to reopen to the public on Tuesday. So we need to wait.
ICYMI, the wild case took a critical turn last Wednesday when a defense motion for mistrial followed a witness’s accidental reading of unredacted evidence in front of the jury. Rapper Slimelife Shawty, born Wunnie Lee, was asked to identify individuals involved in the case through social media posts. Although Lee took a plea deal in 2022 after being initially charged, he was called to testify. During his testimony, Lee read aloud an unredacted version of a social media caption, which included the hashtag “Free Qua.” According to the defense, the jury was not supposed to learn which defendants had previously been incarcerated.
“This makes it painfully obvious that the state is not properly preparing its witnesses,” stated Bruce Harvey, attorney for defendant Quamarvious Nichols, on Wednesday. Five individuals, including Nichols and Williams, are on trial.
Nicole Westmoreland, another attorney representing Nichols, added, “The jury has now repeatedly heard about Mr. Nichols being in jail, and we cannot unring that bell, so we will ask for a mistrial.”
What’s more, in response, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker dismissed the jury and witness and admonished prosecutors for the oversight, saying, “What I’m trying to do is fix your sloppiness so everyone would not have wasted 12 months of their lives in this trial.”
Here’s where things are now. Judge Whitaker declined to declare a mistrial with prejudice. The potential for that ruling would permanently end the trial. Now, she did not rule out a mistrial without prejudice, which leaves open the possibility of restarting the case.
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