A Georgia judge held Young Thug’s attorney Brian Steel in contempt in the YSL RICO trial on Monday (June 10). Steel raised concerns about a private conversation between the judge, the prosecution and witness Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland. Steel was taken into custody for refusing to disclose the source of his information.
“You got some information you shouldn’t have gotten,” Judge Ural Glanville told Steel.
Copeland spent the weekend in jail after he refused to testify in Young Thug’s trial on Friday (June 7). Prosecutors put him back on the stand on Monday. He remained a reluctant witness.
The trial took a dramatic turn following a lunch break without the jury present. Steel said he learned prosecutors met with Copeland in the judge’s chambers without the defense’s knowledge. According to Steel, Copeland allegedly admitted he killed Donovan “Nut” Thomas – a key incident in the YSL RICO case – during the meeting.
“How about the witness, how about Mr. Copeland, who supposedly announced he’s not testifying and he’ll sit for two years and, supposedly this honorable court – or let me rephrase that – this court, said I can hold you until the end of this trial … If true, what this is – is coercion [and] witness intimation,” Steel told the judge.
Judge Glanville was furious. He demanded to know how Steel found out what happened in the meeting. Steel rebuffed the judge’s repeated requests and asked for a mistrial.
Steel was held in concept and escorted from the courtroom. Young Thug’s other lawyer Keith Adams objected to the trial moving forward without Steel. Judge Glanville plowed ahead with the proceedings.
“You don’t get to extort the court,” Judge Glanville declared. “It doesn’t work that way.”
The courtroom clash occurred months into a RICO trial with no end in sight. Young Thug’s trial is already the longest in Georgia’s history. It began in November 2023.
