Young Thug‘s attorney Brian Steel has filed a motion to disqualify Judge Ural Granville from presiding over the rapper’s ongoing RICO trial.
According to court documents, Steel also filed for a mistrial, which he claims was driven by alleged “improper conduct” on behalf of the judge and the prosecution.
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The motion claims that on June 10, the judge and prosecutors had a “unlawful, improper ex parte meeting” with witness Kenneth Copeland, who was testifying after being granted immunity by the prosecution.
Steel claims that he and Thug received no notice of the meeting and that it violated the rapper’s “constitutional and statutory rights, including the right to due process, a fair trial, a fair tribunal, ethical prosecutors and the right to be present at every critical stage of the proceedings under the Georgia Constitution”.
YOUNG THUG'S LAWYER, BRIAN STEEL, HAS FILED A MOTION TO RECUSE JUDGE GLANVILLE FROM THE YSL CASE pic.twitter.com/PokiBzCTgf
— THUGGERDAILY ひ (@ThuggerDaily) June 17, 2024
In the motion to dismiss Judge Granville from the trial, Steel accuses him of being “biased” towards the prosecution.
It’s the latest twist in the lengthy and controversial trial which has already seen Steel arrested for contempt of court while in the courtroom.
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Steel began rowing with the judge after he found out about the meeting with Copeland, with Glanville ordering the attorney to reveal who told him about the meet.
Steel refused to tell the judge who had told him about the meeting, and in dramatic scenes, had the lawyer arrested — all of which was caught on a courtroom livestream.
“You can purge that contempt just by telling who it is that told you that information. That’s all I need to know,” Glanville said to Steel, who refused to name names based on a duty of confidentiality.
Steel also said he wanted to spend his jail time with his client Young Thug to continue preparing their defense against the RICO charges.
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Steel later avoided any prison time after being granted bond, pending the appeal of his contempt charge.
Steel’s own attorney celebrated the legal victory in a statement, saying: “We are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father’s Day this weekend. We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation.”
