Prosecution ends in case against 2 remaining defendants in Young Thug trial

By CHARLOTTE KRAMON and JEFF AMY The Associated Press

FILE - 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, July 30, 2024, at the Fulton County courtroom in Atlanta. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Miguel Martinez]

ATLANTA (AP) — After almost a year of testimony in a sweeping gang and racketeering indictment against Young Thug and an initial other 27 defendants, prosecutors rested their case Tuesday in the longest trial in Georgia’s history.

Both Deamonte Kendrick, also known as Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell told the judge Tuesday they would not testify in their own defense. Both earlier rejected plea offers after over a week of negotiation.

Defense lawyers indicated that they would ask Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to direct the jury to issue a verdict of not guilty against Kendrick and Stillwell on Wednesday, which requires the lawyers to argue that no reasonable person could find that the state had proved Kendrick and Stillwell guilty.

If Whitaker rejects the request for a directed verdict, lawyers are also likely Wednesday to argue about instructions to jurors about what they must find to convict Kendrick and Stillwell.

Jurors will return on Thursday and could begin deliberation before the end of the week.

Young Thug, the 33-year-old Atlanta-born Grammy winning artist whose given name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges in October after negotiations with prosecutors broke down. That left the sentence up to Whitaker, who let him walk free by sentencing him to time served and 15 years of probation with hefty restrictions, including a ban from the metro Atlanta area for the first 10 years except for certain occasions.

The slow-moving trial has been fraught with problems from the start. Jury selection took nearly 10 months, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, the original judge, was removed from the case in July after defense attorneys filed a recusal motion based on a secretive meeting he held with prosecutors and a state witness.

Whitaker took over the case and often lost patience with prosecutors for what she once called “poor lawyering.” She and defense attorneys scolded prosecutors for not sharing evidence in advance.

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

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

Steel said he thought they were winning the trial and wanted to stick it out to a jury verdict, but Young Thug wanted to go home to his family instead of sitting through the rest of the trial, which felt like “hell.”

Nine people charged in the indictment, including Atlanta rapper Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Twelve others are to be tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.