The judge overseeing the Young Slime Life (YSL) trial told District Attorney Fani Willis‘ prosecutors that they are taking too long with their witnesses.
“The issue is how long she’s on the stand testifying and how long every witness is on the stand testifying, and how many witnesses there are in this case is just a lot,” Judge Paige Reese Whitaker said.
After Whitaker said that the district attorneys needed to “figure out a faster way to get what you want from each witness,” a prosecutor, Adriane Love, had said the witness waited Monday to take the stand but never did.
Judge Paige Reese Whitaker answers the question as she hears arguments for several motions the trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the Fulton County courtroom in Atlanta.
Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
“Are both sides restricted to an amount of time?” Love asked in the back-and-forth.
The judge responded that she “would imagine” that one side of counsel is not allowed to “go on forever and the other side only gets 10 minutes.”
Newsweek reached out to Willis’ office but was directed to a voice mailbox, which was full and not accepting messages.
Prosecutors reportedly have over 100 witnesses to call, but the judge hopes to wrap up the case before the holiday season.
The exchange is just one of many within the slow-paced case revolving around the gang and rapper Young Thug, which has stretched for over a year. The jury selection began in January of 2023. Whitaker is the third judge on the case after the two priors were recused, on July 15 and the other two days later.
The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is accused of violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, aimed at targeting individuals working under a criminal organization.
Williams and several co-defendants are facing charges related to racketeering conspiracy and participation in criminal street gang activity, along with drug and gun charges.
As the long-running racketeering case continued in Fulton County, Georgia, Whitaker called out the prosecuting team last week for being “so unorganized, that you are throwing this case together as you try it.”
Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, makes his first appearance at the Fulton County courthouse in Atlanta on Dec. 15, 2022. Opening statements began Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, and continued Tuesday in the racketeering conspiracy and gang trial for the rapper and five other people.
Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File
Love also previously had difficulties securing a key witness.
“I expect that that witness will be coming in, it’s the one we’ve been discussing, but I think it’s pertinent information,” Love said.
“Not right now,” the judge replied. “Frankly, it doesn’t matter if you have a particular witness.
“What you have been instructed is to have enough witnesses to fill the day.”
In April, Assistant District Attorney Love got into a heated exchange with former Judge Ural Glanville after he sided with the defense and ruled that the evidence Love wanted to introduce would be excluded.
Whitaker also had previously warned the district attorney’s office that it needed to “get all your ducks in a row.”
DA Willis is overseeing two RICO cases, with the other being her prosecution of former President Donald Trump and his allies for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election under Georgia’s racketeering laws.
She has risen to national prominence for using racketeering laws—a charge often wielded against mobs. In 2013, she successfully prosecuted a group of teachers in Atlanta using Georgia’s RICO statute after arguing the educators conspired to cheat on state standardized tests.
Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election is being prosecuted under Georgia’s racketeering laws as well. In the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump lost Georgia by slightly over 10,000 votes. The state became the center of attention when he attempted to overturn the election and Trump was charged with illegally interfering with the election.
The case has been effectively at a standstill, as it was sidetracked for months over whether Willis should be disqualified after having a romantic relationship with her lead prosecutor. She stayed on the case, and he resigned.
The case against Trump was paused in June until at least October when an appeals court will hear arguments from the former president and his co-defendants.
This year’s election is likely to hinge on seven states and Georgia could be critical for Trump’s path to the White House.
FiveThirtyEight shows Trump leading in Georgia on Wednesday by 1.2 points, with 48.3 percent of the vote.
