Judge Rachel Krause granted Young Thug’s motion to disqualify/recuse Judge Ural Glanville from the YSL RICO trial on Monday (July 15). Krause ruled in favor of the rapper and his co-defendants despite the defense questioning her impartiality.
“This Court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue presiding fairly over this matter if the recusal motions were denied, but the ‘necessity of preserving the public’s confidence in the judicial system’ weighs in favor of excusing Judge Glanville from further handling of this case,” Krause ruled.
Glanville was removed from the case a month after a courtroom showdown with Young Thug’s lawyer Brian Steel. Glanville created controversy by privately meeting with prosecutors and key witness Kenneth “Lil Woody” Copeland during the trial. Steel learned about the meeting and confronted Glanville in court.
Steel was held in contempt of court and sentenced to jail time for refusing to reveal the source of his information. The legal clash derailed the RICO trial as lawyers fought Steel’s contempt charge and requested Glanville’s recusal.
Glanville refused to recuse himself before allowing another judge to decide on whether he should exit Young Thug’s case. Krause was tasked with the decision.
The defense filed a motion seeking Krause’s recusal based on Glanville donating to her re-election campaign. Krause rejected the motion on July 9. A week later, Krause showed no bias toward Glanville by ordering his recusal.
“It is worth noting that this Court agrees generally with Judge Glanville’s assessment of the propriety of the ex parte meeting,” Krause wrote. “While the meeting could have – and perhaps should have – taken place in open court, nothing about the fact of the meeting or the substance discussed was inherently improper.”
She continued, “However, in his order denying Defendant Kendrick’s motion and in the process of making his record on July 1, 2024, Judge Glanville added facts, provided context, questioned the veracity of allegations, and otherwise explained his decisions and actions and argued why those actions were proper. While it ‘may be appropriate for the judge to disclose information relevant to his potential recusal,’ such a ‘disclosure must be made in a way that is as objective, dispassionate, and non-argumentative as possible, so that the judge is not reasonably perceived as a hostile witness or advocate.’”
Krause’s ruling added another wrinkle to Young Thug’s convoluted case. His slow-moving trial began in 2023. It is already the longest trial in Georgia history.
