Prosecution ends in case of remaining 2 defendants in Young Thug case – WABE

This story was updated on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 6:29 p.m.

After almost a year of testimony and racketeering indictment in a wide-ranging ring Young Thug and after the original 27 defendants, prosecutors rested their case Tuesday in the longest trial in Georgia history.

Deamonte Kendrick, also known as Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell told the judge Tuesday that they would not testify in their own defense. Both had previously rejected plea offers after more than a week of negotiations.

Defense attorneys have indicated they will ask Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to instruct the jury to return not-guilty verdicts against Kendrick and Stillwell on Wednesday; This requires lawyers to argue that no reasonable person could determine that the state has proven his innocence. Kendrick and Stillwell are guilty.

If Whitaker denies the request for a direct verdict, attorneys are also likely to argue Wednesday about instructions to jurors about what they should find to convict Kendrick and Stillwell.

Jurors will return on Thursday and could begin deliberating before the weekend.

Young Thug, a 33-year-old Atlanta-born Grammy-winning artist whose name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty to gang, drug and weapons charges in October after negotiations with prosecutors failed. This left the sentence up to Whitaker, who sentenced him to 40 years in prison. walk freely probation with severe restrictions, including prohibition from entering the Atlanta metropolitan area for the first 10 years except in certain circumstances.

The slow-moving case was fraught with problems from the beginning. Jury selection has been made almost 10 monthsand the original judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, were removed from the case in July after defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss based on a secret meeting with prosecutors and a state witness.

Whitaker took over the case and often lost patience with prosecutors for what he once called “bad lawyering.” He and defense attorneys scolded prosecutors for not sharing the evidence sooner.

More than 175 witnesses testified throughout the trial. Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others formed a violent criminal street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, in 2012, which they said was affiliated with the national Bloods gang.

At Young Thug’s plea hearing, defense attorney Brian Steel said that Young Thug was “falsely accused” and that the evidence against him was weak. He also condemned the use of rap lyrics during the hearing.

Steel said he thought they won the trial and wanted to stick with the jury verdict, but Young Thug wanted to go home to his family rather than sit out the rest of the trial, which felt like “hell.”

Nine people, including the Atlanta rapper, were charged in the indictment Gunnawhose real name is Sergio Kitchens, accepted plea deals before the trial began. The other twelve people will be tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against a defendant convicted of murder in an unrelated case.