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Young Thug Trial ‘Moving Forward’ Under New Judge, Defense Wants Prosecutors ‘Removed’

The new judge on Young Thug's RICO trial is setting new rules in the case as defense lawyers seek to remove the two prosecutors tied to secret meeting

“I want to be moving forward efficiently and expeditiously,” Judge Whitaker said at the morning hearing attended by the lawyers for the six co-defendants, including Young Thug, who are the first to face a jury under the state’s sprawling RICO indictment handed down in 2022. Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier this month, defense lawyer Douglas Weinstein, who represents Williams’ co-defendant and fellow rapper Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, said the need to rewind the trial back to June 12 appears problematic. According to prosecutors, he acted as the head of a Bloods-affiliated gang called Young Slime Life ( YSL) that formed in 2012 and consolidated power in south Atlanta though alleged crimes including armed robberies, carjackings, illegal narcotic sales, shootings, and at least three homicides.

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