Fulton County prosecutor admonished for unpreparedness in shouting match with judge during rapper Young Thug's RICO trial

A prosecutor in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office in Georgia had a disastrous day in court on Wednesday when she engaged in a losing shouting match with the judge presiding over the ongoing RICO trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug, local Fox affiliate WAGA reported.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville expressed his frustration over the slow pace of the trial that began in November and separately admonished both defense attorney Max Schardt and Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love for recently filing motions that could have been filed months earlier.

While both attorneys attempted to plead their case to the judge, Love took it up a notch by engaging in a shouting match with the judge who ultimately cut her off and threatened to hold the trial on weekends if necessary to speed up the slow-moving proceedings against the rapper and several co-defendants accused of a racketeering conspiracy involving drugs and gang violence.

"Next time, make sure you're prepared"

According to Atlanta News First, defense attorney Schardt, who represents co-defendant Shannon Stillwell, first drew the ire of Judge Glanville over a motion he'd just filed to exclude witness statements the prosecution intended to introduce, with Glanville telling Schardt, "Here’s the court’s concern: You could’ve filed this as a motion months ago."

Following a brief back and forth between them, Glanville then turned his attention to ADA Love and the 105-page PowerPoint presentation she wanted to submit as evidence that the defense had objected to, which led to the shouting match after the judge summarily ruled to exclude the submission.

The judge asked if the prosecution had coordinated with the defense on the evidence it wanted to submit, as he had previously instructed them to do, only to hear excuses from Love, which prompted him to say, "Well then you all should have gotten yourself together beforehand," according to Fox News.

Love continued to argue that the presentation should be allowed but Glanville cut her off and said, "Have a seat, madam. Have a seat," as he ordered the bailiff to bring the jury into the room, then added, "You better exclude that and next time, make sure you're prepared."

The prosecutor refused to stop, however, and insisted the evidence should be admissible, but the judge replied, "Oh, it's going to be inadmissible right now. I am not going to have any more discussion about this, madam."

Just the latest blow-up in the courtroom

Newsweek reported that ADA Love persisted in her futile attempt to convince Judge Glanville that the evidence she wanted to submit should be accepted and asserted that she had made prior attempts over the past two weeks to coordinate with the defense on the submission, then claimed, "Your honor, so the court punishes the state because the defense ..."

The judge swiftly interrupted her, though, and said, "I'm not punishing anybody. But prior preparation prevents poor performance."

The outlet noted that this isn't the first time that fireworks have erupted in the months-long Young Thug trial in Fulton County, as Glanville has repeatedly chastised both the prosecution and defense on multiple occasions for being late to court, for arguing against his rulings, and for raising their voices too loud, including instructing Love and another defense attorney to "take it down a notch" during a heated back and forth in March.

Alleged criminal racketeering conspiracy involving drugs, gangs, and guns

According to WAGA, Young Thug, real name Jeffrey Williams, was arrested and criminally indicted in May 2022 on allegations that he and initially more than two dozen co-defendants were engaged in a racketeering conspiracy involving drugs, guns, and gang violence, including murder, and Williams faces decades in prison if convicted.

Per Atlanta News First, of the 28 individuals initially charged by the Fulton County DA's Office, there are only six remaining co-defendants who have pleaded not guilty and are involved in the trial that began in November last year, as all of the rest either accepted plea deals or had their cases severed from the rest of the group.