Judge in Fani Willis Case Faces Calls for His Removal

The judge presiding over Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' sweeping RICO case against alleged Young Slime Life gang members is facing calls for his recusal after a stunning clash between him and one of the defense attorneys in the case.

Judge Ural Glanville is facing calls to step aside in the YSL trial after he held attorney Brian Steel, who is representing Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, in the case, in criminal contempt for refusing to reveal how he learned of a private meeting that took place in the judge's chambers.

Glanville sentenced Steel to 20 days behind bars on Monday after Steel sought to file for a mistrial based on his knowledge of the ex parte meeting between the judge, prosecutors, state witness Kenneth Copeland—otherwise known as Lil Woody—and Copeland's attorney. Steel accused Glanville and Willis' office of witness tampering during the meeting, but the judge was more focused on how the attorney learned about what was said in the meeting rather than what was discussed. The Georgia Supreme Court has since stayed the motion, meaning Steel will not have to serve the sentence while he appeals.

On Wednesday, Doug Weinstein, another defense attorney in the YSL trial representing Deamonte Kendrick, otherwise known as Yak Gotti, sought Glanville's recusal and asked that the trial be halted until the motion was heard by another judge.

Newsweek reached out to Weinstein and to Willis' office for comment.

"Defendants were not provided notice of the hearing either before, during, or after, and, regardless, 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," the motion reads. "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 sworn witness Copeland was to harass and intimidate the sworn witness into testifying."

Glanville denied the motion in court on Wednesday, saying that Weinstein couldn't "file a motion to recuse for a ruling that a trial judge makes" and that it would require Glanville to do something "extrajudicial" in order for such an action. Weinstein said he disagreed with the judge's characterization and asked Glanville, "Aren't you interested in removing the cloud that's hanging over the case right now?"

"Sir, I'd be real careful about what you're pleading at this point in time and what you're stating to the court," Glanville warned Weinstein in response. "I'd be very careful if I were you."

Atlanta-based appellate attorney Andrew Fleischman, criticized Glanville's remarks, saying that his words were another reason for him to step down from the YSL case.

"THREATENING SOMEONE WHO HAS MOVED TO RECUSE YOU IS RECUSABLE," Fleischman said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Glanville also refused to issue a certificate of immediate review for another judge to consider whether he should step aside—a move that Weinstein called "an error."

"Okay, thank you sir," the judge replied.

Willis' office indicted Williams, Kendrick and 26 others in 2022 on gang-related crimes. Prosecutors have claimed that Willams is one of the founders of Young Slime Life, an alleged violent street gang in Atlanta. Williams' attorneys argue that YSL stands for his record label Young Stoner Life.

At the center of the trial is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, a federal law that allows for harsher punishments for people who commit illegal acts in connection with a criminal organization. Willis has become known for her use of the state's RICO law, having used it to successfully prosecute a group of Atlanta public school teachers who cheated on standardized tests and to bring the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Legal commentator Pam Keith argued on X that Glanville should recuse himself not only for holding an "improper" ex parte meeting, but also because he "made himself a witness to a crime" by holding Steel in criminal contempt.

"The judge CANNOT decide the criminal contempt issue because he is a material witness to the underlying event," Keith said. "And...he should recuse himself because the ex parte hearing was WAY improper to begin with. It is NOT the role of a judge to help the prosecution manage its witnesses."

"The judge was obviously furious that he got caught doing something he had no business doing, but trying to strong arm counsel to reveal their sources is not the answer," she added.

Attorney Ashleigh Merchant had called on Glanville to recuse himself for just that reason earlier this week. Merchant, who rose to national prominence for leading the efforts to disqualify Willis from the Trump election interference case, is representing Steel in the contempt matter.

"Mr. Steel is entitled to all the same due process rights that Mr. Williams and every other defendant in this courtroom is entitled to. He's entitled to those. One of those is to have a fair and neutral judge decide his case," Merchant told Glanville on Monday. Her request was also denied.

Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis agreed that Glanville's actions against Steel warranted recusal, writing that "Judge Glanville is correct that evidence of extrajudicial bias is the bar for removal of a judge, not just rulings adverse to a party, because of an appearance of impropriety. But the thing here is that he's alleged to have created an actual conflict by his actions— not a ruling."

"Judges cannot respond by unduly taking their feelings out against an attorney like Judge Glanville did yesterday," Kreis told the Atlanta Constitution Journal on Tuesday. "Frankly, I was surprised that Judge Glanville didn't take a step back all day to reconsider what he was doing or at least pump the brakes."

Conservative legal analyst Phil Holloway had anticipated that someone in the case would file a motion to recuse, tweeting Monday that he did not see any ways for Glanville to continue as the judge in this case.

"A motion to recuse in Georgia MUST be heard by a different judge I don't see how the #YoungThug #YSLTrial is not irreparably tainted," Holloway said.