Protesters gathered outside of the Fulton County Courthouse to demand an end to Young Thug’s RICO trial on Friday (October 25). The chaotic trial was put on hold until Monday (October 28)
“My message is at what point do we say this is unfair?” protest organizer Ten Wilkerson told FOX 5 Atlanta. “What point does the justice system say we got it wrong? We either need to rethink what we’re doing and do the mistrial or dismiss the trial – and when I say try again, I don’t mean try again with the case.”
Fulton County prosecutors made a mistake that disrupted Young Thug’s slow-moving trial on Wednesday (October 23). The error could result in a mistrial. According to WSB-TV, prosecutors discussed plea deals with several defendants in an apparent attempt to salvage the YSL RICO case.
Attorney Doug Weinstein, who represents Young Thug’s co-defendant Yak Gotti, attempted to quell rumors about plea deals on Friday.
“Anyone that tells you they know what is going on behind the scenes in YSL is misinformed,” Weinstein wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
The trial seemingly reached its breaking point when prosecutors failed to redact information from a piece of evidence used on Wednesday. Witness Slimelife Shawty mistakenly revealed Young Thug’s co-defendant Quamarvious Nichols was previously incarcerated while answering a question about an Instagram post. Jurors weren’t supposed to know Nichols had been in jail or prison.
Nichols’ attorney and other defense members demanded a mistrial with prejudice, which would mean the case couldn’t be retried. Judge Paige Reese Whitaker rejected the request but criticized the prosecution.
“I think it is continued [mistakes],” the judge said. “And I am sorry y’all have this gigantic, ginormous universe of evidence that maybe if you narrowed down you would not be making these kinds of mistakes, but I believe that to be a mistake.”
Judge Whitaker asked defense attorneys if they wanted a mistrial without prejudice, which would open the door for prosecutors to retry Young Thug and his co-defendants. No decision was made as discussions went behind closed doors.