Young Thug (right) sits with a defense attorney at a January 2 session of the YSL RICO trial. Still from Law&Crime’s live stream of the session via YouTube.
The YSL trial has resumed following a three-week break. The trial — which began on November 27, more than 18 months after a grand jury indicted Young Thug and 27 of his alleged associates for conspiracy to violate Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and charged them variously with more than 50 other crimes — began its previously scheduled two-week holiday break a week early when one of Thug’s five remaining co-defendants, Shannon Stillwell, was stabbed in Fulton County Jail on December 9. Stillwell, who faces eight charges in the indictment, spent the time off recovering from his wounds.
The topic of discussion in today’s session (January 2) thus far has been a “terroristic threat” that Thug allegedly made to Christopher May, a security guard at Dunwoody, Georgia’s Perimeter Mall on July 7, 2015. According to statements given to a former Dunwoody police officer by May and three other witnesses, Thug threatened to shoot May in the face after May ordered him to leave the property. The alleged threat is listed in the indictment as an “overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy” to violate the RICO Act.
The jury heard testimony this morning from one of May’s fellow security guards at the mall who had allegedly confirmed May’s account of the incident eight years ago but did not remember writing the statement with which he was presented. The former Dunwoody police officer was also questioned, as was the detective who later took over the case. Prosecutors were met with frequent objections — most often from Young Thug’s lead defense attorney, Brian Steel — as they questioned each of the witnesses.
For more in-depth coverage of the YSL RICO trial, read our timeline and explainer. Watch Law&Crime Network’s live coverage of today’s session below.
