ATLANTA — The second judge assigned to the RICO trial involving rapper Young Thug and the alleged YSL street gang has recused herself from the case.
In a written order issued Wednesday, Judge Shukura Ingram filed the recusal. Court documents obtained by 11Alive now list Judge Paige Reese Whitaker as the judicial officer in the case.
Ingram cited her court's former assigned deputy's allegations relating to a YSL defendant, Christian Eppinger.
Eppinger's case was severed from the rest of the YSL defendants last year after it was alleged the deputy tried to sneak contraband to him in jail with the help of one of his family members.
Referring to that episode, Judge Ingram wrote the deputy "could be called as a witness in any future proceedings in this case" and so she might "be called upon to assess this deputy's credibility, or rule on matters related to her criminal prosecution."
"This may undermine the public's confidence in the impartiality of the proceedings," Judge Ingram wrote. "While the Court does not regard the aforementioned situation as creating any actual bias for or against any party to this case, the Court does view this as a matter that could cause a reasonable person to question the Court's impartiality and reasonably give rise to the appearance of impropriety should the Court remain on this case."
Ingram had been randomly assigned the case from among the full bench of Fulton County judges after an order (by a third judge, Rachel Krause) recusing Judge Ural Glanville from the RICO trial earlier this week.
In her order, Judge Krause 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."
Attorneys for Young Thug had argued Judge Glanville 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.
The controversial private meeting, at which Judge Glanville, prosecutors and a witness were present without defense attorneys involved, led to Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel being held in contempt and sentenced to a 20-day jail sentence, which has been 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 YSL case has captivated legal observers.
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