GA High Court Reverses YSL Trial Lawyer's Contempt Order

ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that an order holding YSL trial attorney Brian Steel in contempt after he refused to expose how he learned of an ex-parte meeting during the lengthy gang trial has been reversed.

Patch has obtained a copy of the court's opinion, which came after Steel appealed the contempt order that Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville previously established.

Steel and attorney Keith Adams represent mainstream rapper Jeffery "Young Thug" Williams in a nationally-watched gang and racketeering trial. Prosecutors maintain Williams' YSL moniker stands for Young Slime Life and is an Atlanta-based street gang, while his attorneys claim YSL stands for Young Stoner Life and is Williams' rap label.

After Steel revealed during a June court session that Glanville had met with witness Kenneth "Lil' Woody" Copeland and prosecutors, unbeknownst to the defense, he vehemently declined to tell Glanville how he had learned of the meeting.

Witnesses later testified to the details of the meeting.

Prior to the meeting, Copeland evoked his Fifth Amendment rights and chose not to testify — a decision he later took back when he spent days testifying on the stand. Copeland is under an immunity order from the state.

Glanville ordered Steel to spend 20 days incarcerated on the weekends and ruled Steel was not entitled to a supersedeas bond — also known as an appeal bond sometimes used in civil cases, the Supreme Court said.

Steel appealed the contempt order, arguing the information received was protected by attorney-client privilege and that he did not interfere with the "court's administration of justice," according to the opinion.

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Glanville has since been removed from the trial and replaced by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Whitaker, who continued to preside over the trial Wednesday.

“Because the court delayed punishment, the alleged disobedience was directed toward the court, and the court was involved in the controversy that formed the basis of the contempt, due process required the judge to recuse from the contempt proceeding. We therefore reverse the contempt imposed by the trial court,” Presiding Justice Nels S.D. Peterson said in the unanimous opinion.

According to the opinion, the Supreme Court agreed with Steel that Glanville was required to recuse himself from the contempt matter under due process.

“[W]here the court delays punishment or the conduct occurs outside the court’s presence,
more process is due,” Peterson said in the opinion. “If the announcement of punishment is
delayed, a court must give the contemnor reasonable notice of the specific charges and hold a
hearing. If the punishment is delayed and ‘the contumacious conduct was directed toward the
judge or where the judge reacted to the contumacious conduct in such manner as to become
involved in the controversy,’ that hearing ‘must be conducted by another judge.’”

Williams and five others remain on trial, facing several gang and racketeering charges. Prosecutors say Williams is the leader of the alleged street gang YSL.

The case took a turn Friday when Whitaker ruled witness and past co-defendant Antonio "Mounk Tounk" Sledge violated a plea deal through his testimony on the stand.

Whitaker revoked five years of Sledge's probation, which spanned more than 27 years remaining, and reinstated the balance. Sledge was immediately taken into custody. Sledge's original probation term was 30 years, but it was said during court he received some credit for time served.

Court resumed Wednesday with defense attorneys for co-defendant Rodalius "Lil' Rod" Ryan cross-examining a state's witness regarding a fatal shooting in 2019.

The trial will enter its first year in November.