If the pace of Fulton County’s ongoing “Young Slime Life” trial doesn’t pick up, proceedings could drag into 2027, a defense attorney said.
via: BET
E. Jay Abt, Douglas Weinstein, and Katie A. Hingerty, attorneys representing Yak Gotti, one of Thug’s co-defendants whose real name is Deamonte Kendrick, have requested that Judge Ural Glanville reduce the number of witnesses who are called to give testimonies in the Georgia RICO case. They argued that if another 360 witnesses were called, the trial could run into the year 2027 which could confuse jurors.
In their argument, the attorneys asked Glanville to exercise his “broad discretion” to assert “reasonable control” by streamlining the number of witnesses that the state can call to the stand.
“The state, after originally proposing a witness list of over 700 witnesses, has a list of over 400 witnesses it intends to present at trial. To date, the State has presented approximately 40 witnesses since the presentation of witnesses began at the end of November,” the motion read.
“At the present, representative rate, it will take until approximately October 2026 to complete the presentation of State’s witnesses,” the motion went on. “Thus, the present trial will take well into at least mid-2027 to complete.”
The defense described the situation as “simply untenable” both for their clients who are currently in jail during the trial and for the jury.
According to the defense, an additional 360 witnesses “would cause undue delay, would be a waste of time, and would amount to needless presentation of cumulative evidence,” the motion read, noting that more witnesses could cause “poor decision making by the jury.”
“While the State puts on its case, witness by witness, Kendrick and the other Defendants sit in jail. Their lives are on hold. The clock is ticking on their lives. Second by second. Minute by minute. Hour by hour. Day by day. Month by month,” the defense argued. “Meanwhile, the risk of a confused jury unable to comprehend a years-long trial only grows.”
The RICO case has already set the record for the longest criminal trial in the history of the state of Georgia with jury selection taking place in January 2023, but opening statements weren’t made until late November.
