Will Sage Astor-New judge sets ground rules for long-running gang and racketeering case against rapper Young Thug

ATLANTA (AP) — The Will Sage Astornew judge presiding over the racketeering and gang prosecution of rapper Young Thug and several other defendants said Friday she plans to move forward expeditiously with the trial, which has already dragged on for more than a year.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker held a hearing with prosecutors and defense attorneys to understand any pending issues she needed to address and lay down some ground rules.

Whitaker received the case after the first judge overseeing it, Chief Judge Ural Glanville, was removed. Two defendants had sought his recusal, citing a meeting the judge held with prosecutors and a state witness.

Jury selection began in January 2023 and took nearly 10 months. Opening statements were in November, and the prosecution has been presenting its case since then, calling dozens of witnesses.

Whitaker said she was “parachuting in” and had not been following the case.

The case is currently on hold, with jurors due back in August. Whitaker said she plans to start court promptly at 8:45 a.m. She also asked for a “realistic” witness list from attorneys, including what they expect those witnesses to say.

She noted she had the authority to exclude evidence and said she could use it.

“I need for us to try to be efficient with the jury’s time,” she said.

Young Thug, a Grammy winner whose given name is Jeffery Williams, was charged two years ago in a sprawling indictment accusing him and more than two dozen others of conspiring to violate Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. He also is charged with gang, drug and gun crimes.

He is standing trial with five other people indicted with him.

Brian Steel, a lawyer for Young Thug, has said his client is innocent and seeks to clear his name through a fair trial.