An assistant prosecutor in the office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may be guilty of lying to a judge, setting the Democrat up for another headache just as she’s trying to dig out from underneath an avalanche of negative press.
Willis, who has charged former President Donald Trump with election-related crimes, is responsible for Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love, the lead prosecutor in the office’s case against Young Thug, an Atlanta-area rapper believed to be the leader of a violent street gang. A defense attorney for Thug has now come forward claiming that Love lied to state Judge Ural Glanville in order to introduce evidence against his client. A video clip containing dialogue between individuals linked to the case is at the center of the dispute.
During the trial, Love told Judge Glanville that the video contains statements to the effect of “yeah, yeah, yeah” by some of the individuals. However, according to defense attorney Keith Adams, some of them were actually overheard saying “I’m gonna tell a lie on God” and “snitching b*****,” something Love failed to disclose, Newsweek reported.
“If she wins the motion, ultimately, she wins. But you don’t do it standing there, three feet from you, in your face, and lying to the court. And that’s what she did, she knew what she was doing and it’s not right,” Adams said of Love’s portrayal of the video.
Willis’ office has charged Young Thug with racketeering crimes related to his alleged involvement in Young Slime Life (YSL) a street gang responsible for carjackings, shootings, and other violent crimes in the Atlanta area. The rapper, whose given name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, has denied being involved with the Bloods-affiliated gang.
Judge Glanville said he agreed with Adams that Love was not being accurate in her summation of the video, but did not go so far as to claim that she committed fraud upon the court. “What you did tell me, Ms. Love, wasn’t the entirety of what was purportedly on [the video.] It did have other statements on it. It’s different if you had told me, ‘Judge, there’s statements on there. Probably need to listen for yourself.’ Not just ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’” Glanville told the prosecutor.
Love bristled at the allegation by Keith, firing back that he was punching below the belt with his comments.
“When Mr. Adams just read those series of things that he read, half of what he said, I didn’t catch. The part that I did catch and remember is the part I kept repeating just now, ‘snitching b*****,’ and I didn’t even recall that that part was there. What I did know was that the relevant speaker and the relevant portion was Mr. Williams,” she responded, adding “Certain comments and requests to the court have risen to the level of not being true motions or requests based on legal analyses, but more leveled specifically on a personal level.”
The discussion ended with the judge offering warnings to both sides.
“What I am going to just advise everyone to kind of relook is what you tell each other. What you tell me, because there have been times where I have not received, I would consider, what is accurate information; let me just put it that way. And I’m not trying to attribute dishonesty to any party, but I have to rely…all courts have to rely upon counsel for their representation, so if you can’t remember what it is, just tell me that,” he said.