Judge Paige Reese Whitaker reprimanded Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love in Young Thug’s painfully slow RICO trial on Monday (September 30). The Georgia judge was furious, blaming Love for causing too many problems in the trial.
“I don’t want to malign the prosecutor standing in front of me right now, so I’m not gonna say the possible things that it could be,” Judge Whitaker said. “But it is baffling to me that somebody with the number of years of experience that you have, time after time after time, continues to seemingly – purposefully – hide the ball to the extent you possibly can, for as long as you possibly can.”
Judge Whitaker questioned if Love was trying to create problems on purpose or if the prosecutor’s actions were a matter of incompetence.
“I really don’t want to believe that it is purposeful,” the judge said. “But honestly, after a certain number of times, you start to wonder how it can be anything other than that. Unless it is that you are so unorganized that you are throwing this case together as you try it. And I am sorry to say that. But this case is being made much more difficult for everybody because of the haphazard way in which it is being presented.”
Judge Whitaker angrily left the courtroom after scolding Love. The judge denied the defense’s motion for a mistrial upon her return but issued another warning to the prosecution.
“I don’t know if I can stress anymore than I already have how much the state’s lawyers need to make an effort to be upfront and forthright in the trial of this case,” Judge Whitaker said.
Young Thug’s RICO trial began in 2023. He has remained in jail since his 2022 arrest. The incarcerated rapper and his co-defendants maintain their innocence.