ATLANTA — Court is back in session following a big revelation on Wednesday in the trial involving rapper Young Thug and an alleged YSL street gang.
Wednesday, it was revealed that a second meeting, known as an ex parte meeting, was held.
The revelation came from lawyers for Deamonte Kendrick, one of the other YSL defendants, who filed a supplement Wednesday in their motion for a mistrial. It said they learned about the additional ex parte meeting on Monday when they were given a transcript of it. That transcript is available under the YouTube player below.
The other ex parte meeting occurred earlier -- on June 7-- than the first one that was known about, on June 10.
Watch Friday's courtroom video in the video below:
The original revelation of an ex parte hearing at which Judge Glanville, prosecutors and a witness were present without defense attorneys involved ultimately led to the recusal of Glanville and the seating of a new judge, Paige Reese Whitaker, who is now overseeing the case.
An ex parte proceeding is considered to be one where only one party of the case is present. Defense attorneys have since argued that it was deeply inappropriate for Judge Glanville to conduct an ex parte meeting with a witness an prosecutors present, but no defense. They've filed motions for mistrial on the issue, though some of those have already been dismissed.
Defense attorney Max Schardt strenuously voiced his objection to the ex parte proceedings, calling into questions rulings from Judge Glanville. You can see video of his comments above this story.
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.
