High court halts Young Thug's lawyer's jail sentence as he appeals contempt order
A judge in Atlanta, Georgia, ordered the attorney to serve 10 weekends in jail for criminal contempt for not saying who told him about a secret meeting with a witness.
Young Thug will not have his lawyer as a cellmate this weekend.
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bond for Brian Steel as he appeals a contempt of court order issued Monday by a judge angry he won’t disclose who told him about a secret chambers meeting with a key witness in the racketeering conspiracy trial against the rapper and his five co-defendants.
The two-word judgment means Steel won’t have to report to the jail in Atlanta, Georgia, by 7 p.m. as Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville ordered.
Glanville’s contempt order still stands as Steel’s lawyers appeal, and another could be on the way: The judge on Tuesday ordered everyone who attended the meeting to appear at a June 25 hearing to show cause “why one or more of them should not be held in contempt for disclosing information from the ex parte conversation to member of the Defense counsel.”
Glanville told attorney Kayla Bumpus of the hearing after he allowed her to stop representing Kenneth “Woody” Copeland, the witness whose refusal to testify last Friday led to Monday’s ex parte meeting.
Copeland fired Bumpus from the witness stand on Monday after she told Glanville she needed to withdraw because he wanted her to; the judge put Copeland on the stand to confirm.
Bumpus was substituting for Jonathan Melnick, another Atlanta attorney who appeared with Copeland on Friday but said he couldn’t be in court on Monday because he had “nonrefundable plane tickets.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love questioned whether Melnick was truly representing Copeland’s best interests on Friday when he told the judge that Copeland planned to invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination, and Copeland ended up in jail for contempt of court.
The judge ordered Copeland, a former close friend of Young Thug, legal name Jeffery Lamar Williams, into custody after he defiantly said “I plead the Fifth” when asked his age. Melnick said later in the day that Copeland planned to invoke again on Monday, but Copeland instead began testifying after court started about two hours later than scheduled.
During a break in Copeland’s testimony, Steel told Glanville he’d heard of the ex parte meeting and demanded to know why the defense wasn’t included or notified. The judge wouldn’t discuss the meeting and instead demanded Steel tell him how he learned of it.
Steel refused, and Glanville had him taken into custody. He was taken to a courthouse holding cell but soon allowed back in the courtroom to continue workin the trial. Glanville then at the end of the day formally held him in criminal contempt of court and ordered him to serve 20 days in jail in two-day stints for 10 weekends, beginning Friday. Steel asked that he be housed with Williams so they can work on the case together.
Steel is represented in the appeal by his wife and law partner, Colette Resnick Steel, as well as Alex Susor and Ashleigh Merchant of the Georgia Association Criminal Defense Lawyers. Merchant said in a statement on Wednesday they “are thrilled that Brian will be home with his family for Father's Day this weekend.”
“We appreciate how quickly and thoughtfully our appellate courts handled this unfortunate situation,” Merchant told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Attorney Doug Weinstein asked Judge Glanville to recuse himself in a 15-page filing on Wednesday that said the judge “coerced sworn witness Copeland to testify” during the meeting.
“Defendants should have been afforded an opportunity to attend any hearing where a sworn witness in a critical stage of the trial is being coerced to testify,” Weinstein wrote. “The only logical conclusion to be drawn by the willful exclusion of all defense counsel from the meeting among Chief Judge Glanville, the State, and worn witness Copeland was to harass and intimidate the sworn witness into testifying.”
Weinstein asked Glanville to send the motion to another judge, but Glanville declined and rejected the motion in a brief discussion Wednesday afternoon. Glanville said the issue “comes up a fair bit,” characterizing his decision to hold an ex parte meeting with Copeland as a routine decision by a trial judge
“You can’t file a motion to recuse for a ruling that a trial judge makes, OK? And that’s what you’re doing in this particular situation,” Glanville said. “Because if that were the case. then no trial judge would be able to sit through a trial and give adverse rulings.”
“Remember: bias. I’ve got to do something extrajudicial,” the judge continued.
Glanville declined to allow immediate review by the appellate court.
“You can appeal it at the end of the case. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. Hey, I’ll live by it,” Glanville said.
“Aren’t you interested in removing the cloud that’s hanging over this case right now, Your Honor?” Weinstein asked.
Glanville warned Weinstein “to be very careful” about what he’s saying “as a matter of professional responsibility” and told him to “tread lightly.”
“Remember, we haven’t nugged out all of the issues involved in that affidavit,” Glanville said.
Weinstein’s affidavit includes more details about what attorneys believe occurred in Monday’s meeting, including that Copeland “stated that he would sit in jail for two year[s] rather than testify.”
“Upon information and belief, at the ex parte meeting the morning of June 10, 2024 Chief Judge Glanville informed Copeland that CJ Glanville could keep Copeland incarcerated until additional defendants were tried — not just the six defendants currently on trial,” according to the affidavit.
Copeland said he would lie on the stand, according to the affidavit, and Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Simone Hylton “stated that she would not prosecute Copeland if he were to lie on the stand.” The affidavit also says that “upon information and belief,” Copeland told Hylton “that he would state that he killed Donovan Thomas Jr.,” whose murder is a key crime in the trial, and Hylton told him she’d prosecute him for perjury if he did.
Copeland was charged with murder years ago for Thomas’ Jan. 10, 2015, fatal shooting outside an Atlanta barbershop, but the case was dismissed.
Prosecutors charged five of Williams’ co-defendants with the murder as part of the 2022 racketeering conspiracy indictment. Two are on trial with him: Shannon Stillwell and Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick. Thomas’ shooting also is the basis for several of the 191 overt acts supporting the rackteering conspiracy charge.
Defense attorneys have asked Glanville for the court reporter’s transcript of Monday’s meeting, but it has not yet been released.
After the jury left on Wednesday, Stillwell’s lawyer Max Schardt told Glanville he needs from prosecutors“Brady materials, including any impeachment evidence that is different or contradictory from what anything Mr. Copeland has stated on the stand so far.” Brady refers to the the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court Brady v. Maryland, which requires the government give a defendant any potentially exculpatory evidence in their possession.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love said she’d provide any information applicable. Glanville told Schardt he’s still considering Copeland’s statements from the ex parte meeting.
“I’m still combing through that, OK?” Glanville said. “Certainly if it’s appropriate yiou will receive … whatever statements that may be relevant to your inquiry before you begin your cross-examination. You’ll have that.”
I spoke with Weinstein live on YouTube Wednesday evening.
I also discussed the latest in the trial on LiveNOW from Fox.
Copeland is to continue testifying Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. I’ll be streaming on YouTube. I’ll also be sharing highlights on TikTok, where I gained 10,000 followers in the last 24 hours and am hovering near 143,000 total, my largest following on any social media platform. It’s amazing to watch the view counts on there.
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