Young Thug’s historic Atlanta trial angers ‘statewide’ justice system for families seeking closure – WABE

Defense lawyers said this situation would likely last until February next year, straining the system and delaying justice in dozens of unrelated cases, pending resolution.

In March, Williams contacted the Atlanta Public Safety Committee to see if council members could do anything.

“I just need help,” Williams said. “I don’t know what to do or where to go.”

“The system failed me. Every time we go to court, they say, “No more postponement.” You know, they have to find something. Well, they’re postponing it again.

Barbara Williams, mother of a man shot and killed in 2023. She says delays caused by the Young Thug case are preventing her family from moving on.

Online records show the man accused of shooting Williams, Charlie Cooper, was granted $125,000 bail and ordered to wear an ankle monitor after turning himself in and serving six months in the Fulton County Jail.

The man, now 50, is charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Williams’ mother said she went to court several times, but the case made little or no progress.

“That’s my child,” Williams said. “It may not be important to anyone else, but it’s important to me. … The system failed me. Every time we go to court, they say, “No more postponement.” You know, they have to find something. Well, they’re postponing it again.

Scheduling conflicts are not uncommon in Fulton County, which has the busiest court system in the Southeast.

But the Williams family argued that that was precisely their problem.

Court records reveal that attorney Careton Matthews Sr. filed half a dozen so-called “conflict letters” with Judge Melynee Leftridge, letting her know he will not be able to appear at court hearings in Cooper, because he also represents a co-defendant. in the YSL RICO trial.

The trial has made national headlines since the state began presenting its arguments due to its pace and repeated disruptions, such as in April, when Chief Justice Ural Glanville threatened to begin holding court the weekend.

“All right, I guess you’ll all be working this weekend, because that’s exactly what I told you was going to be a problem,” Glanville told the lead prosecutor. “You bring up this sort of thing. I have a jury sitting in a box, and you have a witness that you’re probably going to spend days of questioning with.

Cooper’s attorney, Matthews, did not respond to a request for comment.

However, at a May 14 bail revocation hearing, during which the state argued Cooper repeatedly violated his 24-hour curfew, Matthews said Cooper was “innocent of the charges » and should not be kept in prison indefinitely, because he is busy with another case. .

“He just made an error of judgment,” Matthews said. “Is the consequence, Your Honor, that he remains in prison until his trial takes place, which could be next year, more than likely, because I’m probably going to participate in this trial for the rest of this year and into another Super Bowl? We still have around a hundred witnesses to hear. »

It’s not the state’s fault, Leftridge said.

“It’s not the court’s fault,” Matthews responded. “This is not Mr. Cooper’s fault, but it is a factor I ask the court to consider in determining what is appropriate in this case.”

Leftridge said she did not intend to immediately reinstate Cooper’s bail, but needed time to assess the “extraordinarily low” chance that his trial could even begin within the first three months of the ‘next year.

“Bail is not supposed to be punitive, but people are supposed to follow the conditions of their bail, so there is a significant amount that I have to consider related to this litigation, and I will do that,” Leftridge said.

She confirmed Cooper’s bail was revoked the next day.

Uncharged inmates make up nearly half of Fulton jail

Meanwhile, the Fulton County Jail remains under federal and state investigation due to its overcrowded and unsafe conditions. Nearly half of those behind bars have not yet been charged, with a few years to go.

At least 10 people have died in custody at the facility in 2023 and three so far this year.

Michael Brill, a private criminal defense attorney who is not associated with any of Matthews’ cases, spent several years working as a public defender in Fulton County’s complex trial division, which handles a vast majority of cases. serious offenses including armed robbery, aggravated assault, kidnapping. and drug trafficking.

He says the YSL RICO trial isn’t just a local issue.

“YSL has affected not only Fulton County’s backlog, but the entire state,” Brill said, standing outside the Fulton County Courthouse one morning. “You answer calendar calls all the time in several counties in the metro area and you get announcements about someone who is awaiting trial and their attorney (is on) that case.”

Brill said the options the Williams family has to try to expedite the processing of their case are limited because attorneys are allowed to represent multiple clients at once.

“This client, whether appointed as counsel or retained counsel, is entitled to a competent and vigorous defense,” Brill said. “This judge has no authority and usually doesn’t even try to say, ‘Hey, we need to try this case.’ Could you take a week off? That’s just not how it works.

“No one really thought it would take this long.”

According to a Fulton County database, nearly 6,000 cases are pending in superior court.

The state’s other high-profile cases against former President Donald Trump, the 61 opponents of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and the man accused of committing the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings are included in this figure.

Brill said single-defendant murder trials typically last a week, so it’s not entirely surprising that the YSL RICO trial involving multiple defendants lasted nearly six months.

“I know all of these attorneys are facing their own challenges because they’ve had to essentially give up the ability to resolve their other cases, to acquire new clients, and some are lucky, some aren’t,” he said. Glint said. “No one really thought it would take this long.”

Atlanta City Council member Michael Julian Bond met with Williams after the committee meeting in March. He said he told the mother that as a city official his hands were tied, but that he could try to defend his family’s interests.

“Justice is based on equal treatment and equality and therefore, for true justice to exist in Fulton County, every case must be treated equally,” Bond said.

A spokesperson for the Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office previously said it was fully prepared to begin Cooper’s trial as soon as a date was set by the judge.

“We cannot comment on the case other than to note that the courts give great deference to defendants’ choice of defense counsel and that decisions about scheduling cases are a matter for the courts to make.” , spokesman Jeff DiSantis said in an email. “Our victim and witness advocates, prosecutors and investigators work hard to keep victims and their families informed about the status of all cases handled in our office.