ATLANTA — Jurors in the YSL RICO trial involving rapper Young Thug returned to the courtroom on Monday for the first time in nearly two months. They have a new judge and new rules -- but the same courtroom and the same reluctant witness on the stand.
Proceedings continued Tuesday with that witness, Kenneth Copeland -- better known as Lil Woody. But Copeland's testimony took a turn after lunch when he refused to continue without his lawyer, Jonathan Melnick, present.
Tuesday morning, the Georgia Supreme Court suspended Melnick for six months for conduct unrelated to the YSL trial. After Copeland decided to halt his testimony, the jury was released for the day, and proceedings were cut short.
On Wednesday, prosecutors began playing recordings of Woody's initial interviews with police. Court is expected to resume at 9 a.m.
Watch the proceedings below
More on recent case developments
The case's initial judge, Ural Glanville, was removed after attorneys for Young Thug had argued that he should no longer oversee the case because of a June 10 proceeding known as an ex parte meeting that became the subject of deep contention in the trial.
In her order, Judge Rachel Krause -- who was assigned the recusal matter -- stated, "This Court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, 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."
The controversial private meeting led to Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel being held in contempt and sentenced to a 20-day jail sentence, which was reversed after the state Supreme Court granted him bond.
Steel had been held in contempt for refusing to reveal his source for how he heard about the ex parte meeting.
Judge Glanville later released the transcript of the meeting with the witness, Kenneth Copeland, a.k.a. "Lil Woody."
Copeland was arrested on June 7 and held in contempt after refusing to testify on the stand as part of an immunity agreement. A few days later, in the judge's chambers, prosecutors shared an email sent to them by Copeland's attorney accusing them of making him a target by forcing him to testify. They also said his attorney was threatening to pull out of the case.
Prosecutors later told Copeland that if he still refused to take the stand, he could be in jail until every defendant had their cases decided. He did eventually testify.
Copeland had an attorney present for the meeting, but she was a stand-in for his usual lawyer, who was out of town. Steel insinuated that the court was committing "coercion" as no representation for his client was invited to the meeting.
The extraordinary turn in the case captivated legal observers.