Young Thug‘s lyrics have been used against him in a court of law — but the problem is, D.A. Fani Willis, the same district attorney who is prosecuting Donald Trump, may not have gotten all the lyrics right.
According to court documents obtained by HipHopDX, some of the lyrics listed in the court documents were incorrect, and still others were incorrectly attributed. For example, the documents read “knocking off your big homie bitch” and credit the lyric to Yak Gotti in Unfoonk’s song “Mob Ties.” But that line doesn’t appear anywhere in the song (though a similar line does appear in the song’s hook, spit by 24Heavy), and Yak Gotti doesn’t appear on the track at all.
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Another error in the documents involves “Anybody,” which was released in 2018. While the documents claims the lyrics are, “Ready for war like I’m Russia/ I get all types of cash, I’m a general,” the actual lyrics are, “Ready for war like I’m Russia/ Latest Chanel for the luggage.”
While a proposed federal bill limiting the use of song lyrics in criminal proceedings is still pending in the House of Representatives, and similar bills have been introduced in states throughout the country, D.A. Willis has confirmed to NBC News that she will continue to use song lyrics as evidence against defendants if she feels they are relevant.
Check out the motion that contains all the lyrics in question, which was filed by the prosecution on Monday (October 30), below.
Young Thug: Prosecutors accused of misappropriating song lyrics in YSL RICO case (part 1) https://t.co/3Yh0bOWXIApic.twitter.com/3t6zfezu2p
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) October 30, 2023
Young Thug: Prosecutors accused of misappropriating song lyrics in YSL RICO case (part 2) https://t.co/3Yh0bOWXIApic.twitter.com/pp8zzVNVEW
— HipHopDX (@HipHopDX) October 30, 2023
Earlier this month, Judge Ural Glanville ruled that Fulton County prosecutors will be able to use a long conversation Thug had with authorities in July, 2015. The talk stemmed from an investigation into an April 2015 shooting of Lil Wayne’s tour bus. (Thug was in custody at the time after being arrested for an unrelated incident). Thug was ultimately never charged for the Wayne-related shooting. His talk with the authorities about the tour bus situation lasted for two hours.
Thug’s attorneys attempted earlier this month to get the results of that talk declared inadmissible for Thug’s upcoming RICO trial, arguing that the interview with law enforcement violated Thug’s right to counsel and statements he gave “were not voluntarily made.”
Glanville disagreed. He ruled that Thug didn’t actually have a right to counsel in that situation, because even though he was in police custody, he hadn’t been charged in the case the authorities were asking him about.
“Because Williams was not charged, and because no judicial proceedings had commenced against Williams, with respect to the April 26, 2015 shooting about which he was questioned, this Court FINDS that Williams’ questioning was not in violation of his right to counsel. Because Williams had not been charged for the [tour bus] shooting in Cobb County, his right to counsel had not yet attached—and, in fact, never did attach because Williams was never charged for those specific charges,” the judge wrote.
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“Accordingly, this Court FINDS that Williams’ right to counsel had not attached as to the April 26, 2015 incident about which he was questioned… In addition, because no judicial proceedings had been initiated involving the April 26, 2015, this Court FINDS that Williams had no constitutional right to counsel as to any questioning about that incident.”
The judge also ruled that Thug orally waiving his Miranda rights was sufficient, despite the fact that he hadn’t signed a Miranda waiver.
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Meanwhile, according to 11 Alive, Judge Ural Glanville has confirmed that a jury for the YSL RICO case will be seated “this week.”
The voir dire [jury seating] process will begin on Wednesday (November 1).
