ATLANTA — The YSL RICO trial proceedings continue on Wednesday with witness testimony and evidence.
Young Thug, YSL trial live stream | Wednesday, Oct. 23
Recent case developments
Contempt order reversed for Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel
In June, Steel was held in contempt, arrested, and ordered by then-presiding Judge Ural Glanville to serve 20 days in the Fulton County Jail. He later appealed the order and was granted bond, avoiding jail time while the contempt charge was being appealed.
On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court officially reversed the contempt order, ruling that "the evidence did not support a contempt finding because he did not interfere with the court’s administration of justice, his information was protected by attorney-client privilege, and due process required the judge to recuse from the contempt proceeding."
The ruling states that a different judge should have presided over the contempt hearing since Glanville was involved in the alleged "controversy."
Mounk Tounk's plea agreement controversy
Fulton County prosecutors are seeking to revoke the probation of Antonio Sledge, also known as Mounk Tounk, alleging that he violated the terms of his plea agreement during his testimony in the ongoing YSL RICO trial.
Sledge, a former co-defendant in the case, took a plea deal in December 2022, agreeing to testify truthfully about criminal activities involving Young Slime Life (YSL). In return, he was sentenced to 15 years of probation.
According to a motion filed by the District Attorney’s Office, Sledge "knowingly and willfully" contradicted key elements of his plea deal while on the stand last month.
The plea agreement required Sledge to acknowledge 16 factual statements. However, during his testimony, Sledge walked back several of those statements, leading prosecutors to argue that he failed to fulfill the obligations of the plea.
Judge Whitaker's criticism of prosecution
Whitaker delivered fiery remarks to the prosecution suggesting the team is "so unorganized, that you are throwing this case together as you try it."
"I can't figure out what it is," Whitaker said to prosecutors in the courtroom Monday afternoon. "But it is baffling to me that somebody with the number of years of experience that you have, time after time after time, continues to seemingly purposefully hide the ball to the extent that you possibly can for as long as you possibly can."
Whitaker appeared frustrated as she shared strong words with Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love over how she was handling the case. The judge's words were in response to a dispute over hearsay evidence the prosecution attempted to introduce via a witness. Atlanta rapper Young Thug's attorney, Keith Adams, called for a mistrial.
"This case is being made much more difficult for everybody because of the haphazard way in which it is being presented," Whitaker said to Love before calling for a recess.
Upon her return, Whitaker ultimately denied the motion, saying she didn't believe Love was trying to get a mistrial just to try the case again. She explained that she hoped it was just "poor lawyering" from the prosecution.
Quindarrius Zachary, aka QZ or Lil D, on the stand
The state ordered Zachary's arrest on Sept. 13 to ensure he'd testify in the case. After two days in the Fulton County Jail, Zachary's attorney said he was hospitalized for treatment of his sickle cell disease.
"He will not live, judge. I talked to the family, and in the last four months, he's been in and out of the hospital 10 times, " the attorney said on Sept. 16. "He's extremely sick. He will not survive."
The state released Zachary to home confinement. His testimony included known rapper Young Thug for 15 years, describing their relationship as "aight" and admitting they have had disagreements in the past. He also provided key details about events surrounding the murder of "Nut," corroborating earlier statements by another witness, Kenneth "Lil Woody" Copeland.
His health complications then moved to the forefront as he said pain medication made him forget his testimony and then he openly said it wasn't truthful.
"Do you remember substantially less today than you did on Friday?" prosecutor Adriane Love asked. "Friday, I was probably on like five Percocet, 10 milligrams of morphine," Zachary replied. "I don't remember nothing."
Zachary, who is testifying under an immunity deal with the state, changed his line when defense attorney Max Schardt began questioning him.
"Let's be real. When you said, 'I don't know' and 'I don't recall' to some of those questions, that wasn't the truth, was it?" Schardt asked.
"No," Zachary said after a long pause.
"That wasn't the truth, was it?" Schardt reaffirmed.
"No," Zachary said again.