Young Thug’s Lawyer, Brian Steel To Spend 10 Weekends in Jail by Court Order for Contempt
In a surprising step in the continuing Young Thug court cases, Thug's lawyer, Brian Steel, has been sentenced to 10 weekends in jail (equivalent to 20 days).
The judge made his decision on Monday, shortly after Steel challenged him about the nature of the judge's purported secret encounter in his chambers before court began.
The judge, Ural Glanville, repeatedly asked Steel how he found out the details of this “ex parte conversation with a party,” while Steel stood his ground claiming possible “coercion, witness intimidation and ex parte communication” the latter being something he had the constitutional right to be present for. The judge then continued to press Steel on how he found out about the conversation, while Steel denied giving out the source of the information citing “attorney-client privilege,” which when dismissed, was followed quickly by citing “attorney work product privilege.”
For those not well versed with legal jargon, Cornell Law School defines the difference stating “While the attorney-client privilege only applies to communications between an attorney and the client, the attorney-work product privileges can include materials prepared by persons other than the attorney themselves, provided those materials were created to prepare for litigation.” Safe to say that Judge Glanville rubbished the provision once again and carried on with the line of questioning, grilling Steel on how he got he information supposedly from his office. He asked, “Did someone tell you?” to which Steel retorted by saying, “You should have told me!”
The heated discussion led to the Judge giving Steel five minutes to process the happenings in the court before he is held in contempt for refusing to answer him about how the information was obtained. With that, Judge Glanville walked out as Steel stood flabbergasted making his case, as his notes were being taken by court officials. Unsurprisingly, Steel was determined to claim a mistrial by the court.
The Judge’s conversation apparently took place with a sworn witness, supposedly Kenneth Copeland, who is one of the most crucial witnesses in the Young Thug / RICO case. Interestingly, Copeland refused to testify on Friday (which could impact his immunity deal that is centred around his testimony and compliance), leading to a weekend in jail. Come Monday, Copeland was back on the stand but continued to evade a line of questioning, which indeed points to something fishy being afoot.
Steel claims that according to the alleged conversation, the Judge told Copeland “I can hold you until the end of this trial,” which amounts to serious doubts on the Judge’s dignity, and consequently, the justice system. Steel was removed from the court shortly after the heated discussion, beyond which his co-counsel, Keith Adams, refused to continue in Steel’s absence. As Steel exited the court, he claimed that the judge was taking Thug’s right to legal counsel and that he was being removed against his and his client’s will. While Steel was eventually let back in the courtroom, he was asked to reveal the source of information by 5PM, post which he would be held in contempt of the court.
According to many, Steel continued to display unwavering integrity in holding the ground he did, and was ordered to serve 20 days at the Fulton County jail (10 weekends). Steel requested that he be placed with his client, Young Thug, instead, so they may continue working on the case. The judge agreed. In all of this, it is noteworthy to also mention that Atlanta lawyers came to Steel’s defence, with attorney Ashleigh Merchant of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers coming to advocate for Steel’s defence from custody.
According to The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Merchant was quoted saying, “We’re not OK with this, we’re not going to let this happen to our brother, who was simply doing his job … This is not how advocates should be treated. It’s hard enough being a criminal defense attorney, and we shouldn’t be threatened with jail,” as she pulled up to the court with an army of fellow lawyers. The story is currently still developing, as we wait to find out what surprises wait in store at the ongoing trial.
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