Judge releases details of secret meeting with Fani Willis office

The transcript of the secret meeting involving Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis‘ office and the judge overseeing the Young Slime Life (YSL) case has been released.

Judge Ural Glanville shared the full transcript on Monday after making a surprise announcement that proceedings in the case would be put on hold indefinitely until an outside judge reviews the motions for his recusal.

The judge revealed the latest developments during what was expected to be a hearing to review the transcript of the June 10 private meeting that sparked calls for Glanville’s recusal. The jury, scheduled to be on break until July 8, was not present during Monday’s hearing.

“The court is of the opinion, based on the case law, that this was a proper ex parte meeting,” Glanville said.

At 18 months and counting, the YSL trial is the longest in Georgia’s history. In 2022, Willis indicted rapper Young Thug and 27 others for gang-related crimes. Only six of the defendants are standing trial. Jury selection began in January 2023, and opening statements started in November 2023. Before Glanville’s Monday announcement, the trial had been expected to go well into 2025.

It is one of two high-profile criminal racketeering cases being led by Willis’s office. Her team is also prosecuting former President Donald Trump and his allies for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election under Georgia’s racketeering laws. Trump’s case was also put on hold after the Georgia Supreme Court agreed to take up the defense’s effort to have Willis removed from the prosecution.

The YSL trial has been clouded by a series of controversies, but things reached a head last month after defense attorney Brian Steel revealed that Glanville held a private meeting in his chambers with prosecutors from Willis’ office, state witness Kenneth Copeland and Copeland’s lawyer. Steel, who is representing Young Thug, said none of the defense counsel were made aware of the meeting.

Steel alleged that during the meeting, Glanville and state prosecutors tried to coerce Copeland into testifying by threatening him with jail time if he refused to take the stand. Steel also argued that defense attorneys had the right to be present during the meeting.

The matter further escalated when Glanville demanded that Steel disclose to the court how he learned of the meeting. When the attorney refused, Glanville held Steel in criminal contempt and sentenced him to 20 days behind bars. The clash sparked a flurry of court filings from various counsels representing the defendants, asking Glanville to remove himself form the case. The Georgia Supreme Court also later stayed Steel’s appeal of his jail sentence.

Glanville remained defiant amid the calls for his recusal, insisting that he did nothing improper by holding the meeting. He repeated those remarks Monday, saying, “The only thing discussed between the state and counsel for Mr. Copeland and this court was the understanding of his immunity agreement.”

He also said he would release the full transcript “so everyone will have a chance to look at it.”

Asked by prosecutors how long it will take for the recusal motion to be evaluated, Glanville said, “I don’t know. I don’t have anything to do with that,” adding, “Hopefully, it will get done fairly quickly.”

The transcript, which was released later that day, showed that Simone Hylton, a deputy district attorney with Willis’ office, told Copeland at one point, “Literally—Judge, you might want to close your ears—if you confess to a murder on the stand, if we don’t have any other independent evidence outside of what you say on the stand, you are immune from prosecution from what you say in court.”

Read the full transcript below: