Judge removed from Young Thug trial, new judge assigned

The judge presiding over the trial of rapper Young Thug was ordered off the case Monday afternoon after two defendants requested his recusal following a meeting the judge had with prosecutors and a state witness that did not include the defense team.

Judge Rachel Krause, who heard recusal motions from Young Thug, removed Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville from the case. Glanville, who presided over the case in Atlanta for the past 18 months, was replaced by Judge Shukura Ingram

Krause said that she found nothing improper about Glanville’s meeting, but said she still ordered Glanville to be recused in order to preserve public trust.

Krause wrote that “the necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville” from the case.

Glanville’s removal is the latest interruption in what is already the longest criminal trial in Georgia history. Last November, Glanville made the historic ruling that rap lyrics could “conditionally” be used as evidence in the trial.

Glanville did not respond to a request for comment.

In June, Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, filed a motion to remove Glanville from the trial and “disqualify” the judge from taking any further action on the case, citing Glanville’s “secret” meeting with the witness and prosecution.

When prompted by Glanville to provide details on how he obtained the information, Steel refused to do so, which led Glanville to hold Steel in contempt and sentence him to 20 days in jail. Glanville said he would lift the order of contempt if Steel revealed his source.

Steel’s wife, Colette Resnik Steel, filed notice of an intent to appeal, and the Georgia Supreme Court granted him bond and an emergency motion to stay the order on June 12. The court agreed to hear Steel’s case at a future time.

Steel and another attorney have been representing the Atlanta rapper after prosecutors filed gang-related charges in a sweeping RICO indictment in Fulton County, Georgia, in 2022. Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, is accused, with more than two dozen others, of conspiring to violate Georgia’s anti-racketeering law and is also charged with drug, gun and gang crimes. He is on trial with five of those indicted with him after some opted for plea deals and others were ordered to have separate trials.

“Judge Glanville and the prosecutors have run afoul of their duties under the law. Mr. Williams is grateful that the reviewing court agreed with him and entered the order recusing and disqualifying Judge Glanville from presiding over Mr. Williams’ case,” Steel said in a statement. “We look forward to proceeding with a trial judge who will fairly and faithfully follow the law.”

Last week, Steel filed a motion with over 200 pages of exhibits calling for Krause to recuse herself from deciding if Glanville should be removed from overseeing the trial, and reiterating the request for Glanville to be recused. The motion suggested that Krause could not be objective in her ruling and cited a $2,000 contribution from Glanville to Krause’s reelection campaign in April 2024.