Live stream of the Young Thug and YSL trial, Thursday, August 22nd

ATLANTA — The YSL RICO trial of rapper Young Thug continues Thursday. Only defendants and attorneys are in the courtroom this week and they will take motions and prepare materials as the jury returns and testimony resumes.

The court will continue to review relevant evidence that could be presented to the jury, including song lyrics, music videos and social media posts. According to Judge Paige Whitaker, the jury will return to court on Monday, August 26, due to a previously scheduled recess.

On Monday, the public prosecutor subjected to mandatory training to review requirements regarding the transfer of certain materials,

The training came in response to defense allegations of “errors, impropriety (and) prosecutorial misconduct” regarding Brady materials, which describe any evidence that benefits the defendant in a criminal case and that prosecutors must disclose.

For most of the past week, Kenneth Copeland — better known as Lil Woody — has watched and testified before prosecutors from previous police interviews, including a conversation between him and Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, that was played in court.

Woody, who was considered a key witness before the trial, has largely refused to answer questions from prosecutors, frequently telling them he cannot remember events in which he was allegedly involved, statements he made or things that happened in court this week.

It has become so much his calling card that he actually released a song called “I Don't Recall.”

Last Monday, jurors returned to the courtroom for the first time in nearly two months.

Judge Whitaker is now overseeing the case and has accelerated proceedings following the bias scandal involving previous Judge Ural Glanville, including denying several motions to dismiss and disqualify Fulton County prosecutors in early August.

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Judge Glanville was dismissed after Young Thug's lawyers argued that he should no longer be overseeing the case, as a trial was scheduled for June 10 that was considered ex parte Meeting that became the subject of heated arguments during the trial.

In her order, Judge Rachel Krause, who presided over the recusal case, stated: “The Court has no doubt that Judge Glanville can and would continue to fairly adjudicate this case even if the motions to recusal were denied. However, the 'need to maintain public confidence in the judicial system' supports the need to relieve Judge Glanville from further consideration of this case.”

The controversial private meeting resulted in Young Thug's lawyer, Brian Steel, being sentenced to 20 days in jail for contempt of court, but the sentence was overturned after the state Supreme Court granted him bail.

Steel was charged with contempt of court because he refused to reveal the source from which he learned of the ex parte meet.

Judge Glanville later released the transcript of the meeting with witness Kenneth Copeland, aka “Lil Woody.”

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Copeland was arrested on June 7 and charged with contempt of court after refusing to testify in court as part of an immunity agreement. A few days later, prosecutors in the judge's chambers shared an email sent to them by Copeland's lawyer, accusing them of targeting him by forcing him to testify. They also said his lawyer had threatened to withdraw from the case.

Prosecutors later told Copeland that if he continued to refuse to testify, he could be jailed until all of the defendants' cases were decided. He eventually did.

Copeland had a lawyer present at the meeting, but the lawyer was representing his usual lawyer, who was out of town. Steel accused the court of exercising “coercion” because no representative of his client was invited to the meeting.

The extraordinary turn of the case fascinated legal experts.