Young Thug‘s YSL RICO case continues to make headlines as one of the defense lawyers has been threatened with jail time and contempt of court.
On Monday (April 17), Judge Ural Glanville became terse with attorneys Anastassios Manettas and Eric R. Johnson – who are representing YSL affiliates Miles Farley and Christian Eppinger – after Manettas was ordered to buy lunch for all the lawyers in the case but did not oblige the request.
The Judge noted the attorney was fined $250, which he paid, but it remains unclear why Manettas was threatened with contempt of court over the situation.
Judge Glanville later told Manettas and Johnson they would have to complete a 17-page essay on “the importance of professionalism,” and “treating one’s opponents with civility,” arguing that if it was incomplete by April 28 they’d be sentenced to almost a month behind bars.
“April 28 at noon or you do 20 days,” Judge Ural Glanville told Johnson in part, as recorded by the Law & Crime Network.
The bizarre moment comes as juror selection for Young Thug’s YSL case continues to drag on, with many potential jurors being ineligible for jury duty due to strange circumstances.
Thug’s lawyer Brian Steele recently claimed that a potential juror had even attempted to reach out to him via email. While the contents of the message weren’t disclosed during the hearing, it was enough for the judge to order an investigation.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Judge Ural Glanville was substantially widening the pool of potential jurors in order to find enough who actually qualify.
“Judge Glanville thinks we’ll need 500-600 jurors in the pool after hardships,” reporter Shaddi Abusaid tweeted back in February. “Of those, ‘We’ll need to qualify close to 100 folks.’ before strikes.”
“More groups of jurors being brought in Feb. 24, March 17, April 28 and May 19,” Abusaid added.
The jury selection process has been brutal on Thugga since it began on January 9. Many potential jurors are reportedly concerned with the length of the trial, which they’ve been told could last as long as six to nine months.
Thug faces eight charges, including conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and two counts of participation in criminal street gang activity, along with multiple drug and weapons offenses.
As Young Thug waits for his trial to begin, the YSL leader was allegedly granted a temporary release from prison earlier this month to mourn the passing of his older sister, Angela Grier.
Thugga’s other sister Dolly White seemed to confirm Grier’s passing when she reshared a post of Grier that had been initially uploaded by Lil Keed’s mother. The cause of death remains unclear.
This judge is clout chasing to say the least. He knows it’s a high profile case and knew if he threatened someone with contempt of court for something as ridiculous as not buying lunch, that media outlets would be all over it. Bitch please.
Yeah, aside from any personal thoughts about Thug it seems the judge/prosecution team are way more interested in publicity than actual court work. Also he was arrested almost a year ago and they’re dragging this out now
Sounds like impartial and prejudices.
Wow, so you can go to jail for not buying lunch for other lawyers ? That’s crazy. Not going to lie the judge has been a butthole since the beginning of this trial/pretrial.
You can be fined and/or go to jail for contempt of court. HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.
The judge has the ability to determine how to excise (may not be correct word) the contempt of court. It appears that the lawyers in question are treating the court’s “sand box” more like a “litter box”. The judge has the authority (and responsibility) to ensure that lawyers play nicely together even if they hate each other. The court room belongs to the judge. It does not belong to the lawyers or even litigants,
The judge sets the rules, calls balls and strikes if those rules are violated, with the intent to ensure that the litigants receive fair trial, the trial moves expeditiously, and ultimately the jury has the information needed to render their decision as the finders of fact. A judge has certain constraints on exercising that power, but often have great discretion.
Is the judge coming up w/ “unique” consequences? Oh yeah. But apparently in his opinion they are more than required.
Free my boidem young thug. #home4summer #gang