The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opening statements in Young Thug trial set
Teachers, retiree among jurors to decide rapper’s fate.
A diverse jury that includes educators, a delivery driver and a former correctional officer will determine the guilt or innocence of Atlanta rapper Young Thug and five co-defendants when the sprawling “YSL” gang and racketeering trial finally gets started today.
The tedious jury selection process took 10 months and was complicated by the fact that the trial itself could last six months or longer. The state says it expects to call about 400 witnesses and produce a massive amount of evidence to build its case, which Fulton County prosecutors say is the culmination of more than a decade of investigation.
The 12 trial jurors include an HR professional, a former political consultant, a retired custodian, two educators, a store manager, a government worker, a delivery driver, a telecommunications employee, a beauty adviser, two people who are unemployed and one who works at a health clinic.
There are seven Black women on the jury, two Black men, two white women and one white man. The six alternates are four Black women, one Black man and one white man. All of the defendants are Black men.
The lengthy build-up to opening statements has already taken longer than the entirety of the 2014-15 Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal case, which until now had been the longest criminal trial in state history.
“Once they swear in that first witness Monday, it’ll be the longest case in Georgia history,” said defense attorney Gerald Griggs, who worked the APS trial.
The APS RICO trial lasted eight months and was prosecuted by Fani Willis, now Fulton County’s district attorney. She has since used the state’s racketeering statute to pursue charges against alleged YSL members as well as former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Griggs said working such complex conspiracy cases can be a “practice killer” for defense attorneys because they last so long that many are unable to assist additional clients.
“I would never take another case like that,” he said. “I turned my phone off when I saw the Trump case.”
Many of the potential jurors who were excused during jury selection in the YSL case said they simply couldn’t afford to miss that much work. They expressed concerns about their job status, family obligations and making their rent and mortgage payments, among other things.
Most of those ultimately selected are retired, unemployed or have jobs that will continue to pay their wages regardless of how long the trial takes. While some acknowledged certain leanings based on the reading of the indictment and what they’d heard about the case, all said they could set aside those beliefs, remain impartial and consider the evidence presented at trial.
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, has been in jail since May 2022. Prosecutors allege the Grammy-winning rapper is the co-founder and leader of “Young Slime Life,” which they contend is a criminal street gang based in south Atlanta.
Williams’ attorneys deny the charges and maintain YSL is simply the name of the star’s record label, though several investigators have said under oath that it is also a gang. A total of 28 people were named in last year’s sprawling racketeering indictment, including popular rapper Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens.
Kitchens was one of nine defendants who accepted plea deals offered by the state over the past year. Another 12 defendants had their cases severed for various reasons, and one defendant had his charges dropped after being convicted of two unrelated murders — one in Dekalb, one in Fulton — and sentenced to life without parole.
To bolster their case, Fulton County prosecutors plan to introduce nearly 20 sets of rap lyrics they say pertain to real-world crimes allegedly committed by “Young Slime Life” members. Prosecutors contend some of the popular tracks glorified YSL’S alleged criminal activities, including the shootings of rival gang members, the targeting of others and violence against police.
The lyrics themselves aren’t crimes, authorities have said, but evidence of alleged crimes.
“The lyrics are evidence of criminal intent and criminal
action,” said prosecutor Mike Carlson, who argued the introduction of lyrics would help prove intent, motive and the state of mind of Williams and his remaining codefendants.
Defense attorneys had argued rap lyrics were a protected form of creative expression and that they would unfairly prejudice the jury if introduced during the lengthy gang trial. Chief Judge Ural Glanville read some of those lyrics to jurors in January while reading the four-hour indictment.
One juror who made the cut seemed to express sympathy for the accused, saying on the stand in July that he’s had both good and bad experiences with law enforcement.
“I feel when I’m Black we are being judged. People almost feel we’re guilty before (we’re) innocent,” the juror said, noting he overheard some of the prospective jurors in his group saying negative things about the defendants and essentially pre-judging them.
“I won’t come in and think, ‘They’re rappers. They’re guilty.’”