Young Thug sought to prevent prosecutors from using evidence related to a 2015 murder in the RICO trial against him and other YSL members.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Young Thug’s lawyers filed motions to suppress evidence that allegedly connects him to the murder of Donovan Thomas Jr. Prosecutors claim Young Thug (a.k.a. Jeffery Williams) rented a vehicle used in the killing of Thomas, who was slain in Atlanta in 2015.
Young Thug’s attorneys asked the court to exclude the evidence due to the way it was obtained. His legal team argued against the legitimacy of the subpoena utilized to investigate the 31-year-old rapper’s car rentals.
“The District Attorney’s Office unlawfully abused the power of the Grand Jury in Fulton County when it issued a subpoena to Hertz Rent-A-Car requesting, among other things, a list of vehicles that Mr. Jeffery Williams rented on or about January, 2015, including, but not limited to January 5, 2015 to January 15, 2015,” Young Thug’s lawyers wrote. “This illegally issued Grand Jury subpoena was answered in or around April 2016 with information/documentation that led law enforcement to believe that Mr. Williams rented a gray Infiniti Q-50 from Hertz Rent-A-Car on or about January 7, 2015, returned said car on January 11, 2015 and provided a phone number on the rental car documentation that Mr. Williams supposedly used at the time of renting said vehicle.”
Young Thug’s attorneys insisted the subpoena was wrongfully issued. They called on the court to suppress all evidence collected via the alleged abuse of power.
“Based upon information and belief, at the time of the issuance of this Grand Jury subpoena to Hertz Rent-A-Car, there was no pending Indictment before a Grand Jury on this matter and thus, this ‘subpoena’ was unlawfully issued by the District Attorney’s Office of Fulton County,” Young Thug’s legal team contended. “Hence, any and all evidence as well as derivative evidence must be suppressed as Courts cannot tolerate abuse of the Grand Jury’s power as performed by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office in this case.”
Lawyers also took issue with the search, seizure and continued possession of Young Thug’s iPhone. His legal team said evidence from the phone should be suppressed because it was “obtained unlawfully under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.”
Young Thug remains in jail awaiting trial in the RICO case against YSL members. He pleaded not guilty to racketeering and gang-related charges.