ATLANTA — The ongoing jury selection is entering its fourth month this week in the Young Slime Life RICO trial in Fulton County. Next month will mark one year since the original indictment was handed down by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, alleging that YSL committed nearly 200 criminal acts.
It could take even longer to finally seat those deciding the fate of more than a dozen alleged gang members. Defense attorney Anastasios Manettas represents Miles Farley, who is charged with murder dating back to last March.
"It got started pretty quickly, as far as the pre-trial aspects," Manettas said. "But now this jury selection has now been the longest in Georgia history already, and I don't know if we're halfway done or not."
Farley is one of 14 defendants standing trial, according to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office. He was charged with murder in March 2022 in the death of Shymel Drinks. Manettas said his client was simply selling merchandise, trying to capitalize on Young Slime Life's popularity. Rapper Jeffery Williams, who goes by Young Thug, is charged in the overall RICO case.
Manettas said hundreds of people have been questioned since January on any medical, financial or caretaker conflicts. The judge overseeing the trial said the current hardship phase could last through the summer.
"At that point, the individual phase will begin where each of the 14 defense teams and the state are allowed to ask the jurors who survived the hardship phase anything we want about any of their answers in the questionnaire, which has 258 questions," Manettas said. “None have been questioned about the questionnaire or their individual biases, exposure to the case in the media. It’s only been hardship so far. No one has been individually examined.”
Manettas said trial-specific questioning could begin a month later to try and narrow down a jury pool. Many law experts predict the trial itself could take months and will cost millions of dollars to conduct.
There were originally 28 defendants listed in the initial indictment. Some did not get an attorney, Manettas said. Others took a plea deal with the DA's Office. 11Alive reached out to the Fulton County DA's Office for comment on the current status of the trial but did not hear back.
Meantime, Manettas said the process is frustrating for him and his client, but he believes justice will prevail.
"He's supposed to be presumed innocent and yet, here we are spending a year and a half showing his innocence while he's locked up," Manettas said. "He's spending this entire process essentially being punished for something he didn't do."