The RICO trial against Young Thug and YSL resumed today, but there may be some changes going forward if the prosecution gets its way. According to Law&Crime Network producer Cathy Russon, the prosecution filed a motion asking Judge Ural Glanville to block video of witness testimonies for the rest of the trial. While audio would be allowed, witnesses’ full names would also be blocked from publication until after the testimonies. The matter of video will be settled during a hearing on Friday, February 2 at 3pm ET.
GA v. Jeffery Williams, et al is finally back today but will cameras be allowed? On Friday, the prosecution team filed a motion asking the judge to ban video and only allow audio for witnesses. They are also requesting that witnesses' full names not be broadcast or published… pic.twitter.com/v2WFMUAXQG
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 22, 2024
Judge Glanville set a hearing for Friday, Feb 2nd at 3pm for the camera motion. I guess we get cameras and naming of the witnesses at least until then. #YSL #YoungThug pic.twitter.com/yBmKgb4Iti
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) January 22, 2024
This appears to be a belated effort by the District Attorney’s office to protect its witnesses from possible retaliation or tampering efforts, something the prosecutors claimed they were worried about from very early on in the case. Witness tampering concerns were among the arguments against granting Thug and his co-defendants bond for the near-year they were incarcerated. Arguably, the strategy was at least partially effective in pulling plea deals out of many of the co-defendants, including from Gunna and Thug’s brother Unfoonk. Despite all of those deals being so-called “Alford pleas” in which they only pled guilty to being in a gang, they’ve face recriminations from fans and fellow rappers for the past year.
Young Thug's racketeering trial in Atlanta has been a train wreck from the get go.
Now prosecutors want to make it so we can only hear the train wreck, not see the train wreck.
The Fulton County DA's motion cites threats and online "doxxing" that happened weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/SnmBXRvywY
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 22, 2024
Speaking of YSL gang leader (co-leader?) Trontavious Stephens, this clip of him answering questions from Chief Deputy DA Adriane Love about snitching is up to 7.6 million views on TikTok. https://t.co/FkcLY3c9sQ pic.twitter.com/0g77yt8ovC
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 22, 2024
As long as the cameras ARE still rolling, you can still watch the YSL trial online as it continues.
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Source: https://uproxx.com/music/young-thug-ysl-rico-trial-ban-camera-motion-prosecution/
