Kenneth Copeland is rumored to have informed police about alleged YSL crimes.
By Tim Darnell
Published: Jun. 12, 2024 at 5:00 PM EDT|Updated: Jun. 12, 2024 at 10:27 PM EDT
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A star witness in Fulton County prosecutors’ case against superstar musician Young Thug says he has a hearing problem; has a visual problem; identifies as special needs; and frequently responds to prosecutors’ questions about his past associations with “whatchu mean?”
Welcome to the latest developments in Atlanta’s trial of the century.
Kenneth Copeland - aka Woody - also fired his stand-in attorney this week, telling Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville, “She fired. I don’t want her.”
Copeland has been on the stand since Monday, June 10, after spending a weekend in the Fulton County Jail. As prosecutors have tried to tie him to Young Thug and his alleged YSL gang, Copeland has at times been both cooperative and uncooperative; has yawned and frequently appeared bored; and was spinning around in the witness chair until a very large and intimidating Fulton County sheriff’s deputy told him Tuesday morning to stop.
Glanville also has continually reminded Copeland to stand when jurors enter and leave the courtroom.
Copeland is an Atlanta musician rumored to have informed police on Young Thug’s alleged criminal activities. He was sentenced to federal prison on October 22, 2018, for being a felon in possession of a firearm after bringing an assault rifle into the Dunbar Recreational Center Gymnasium in the downtown Atlanta Mechanicsville community.
Despite the presence of approximately 20 members of the public, including children, Copeland left the assault rifle on the bleachers and went to play basketball. A 911 call eventually led to Copeland’s arrest and eventual conviction on multiple felonies.
In 2021, Copeland was arrested in Fulton County after a traffic stop uncovered a weapon on him. As a convicted felon, Copeland could have been facing a 10-year jail sentence for having the weapon, but over the course of a three-hour interrogation, Copeland told detectives about several crimes that had happened and were about to occur.
In the video, which was leaked to social media, Copeland also appeared to express a willingness to help get a supposed confession from Young Thug.
On Friday, prosecutors said Copeland’s attorney, John Melnick, requested prosecutors cease all communications with his client. Copeland was given case immunity, meaning his testimony could not be used against him in regard to any of his prior 11 convictions.
But later that day, Copeland’s attorney indicated his client did not want to testify and that he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment right.
Glanville explained to Copeland there is an order granting him immunity which prevents his testimony from being used against him, and that if he did not testify, he risks being held in contempt of court.
“You are required to testify, so if you don’t testify the state is probably going to ask me to jail you and I’m probably going to do that,” Glanville said.
After a lunch break, jurors were called in and Copeland took the witness stand. When prosecutors asked him how old he is, he said. “I’m grown. I’m an adult.”
When prosecutors asked how old he was in terms of years, he said, “I take the Fifth.” That’s when Glanville ordered him arrested and taken into custody.
Now, Copeland and his stand-in attorney, Kayla Bumpus, must appear at a June 25 hearing to determine why either of them should not be held in contempt for disclosing an ex parte conversation to Young Thug attorney Brian Steel on June 10, 2024.
Glanville is also ordering anyone else who were in attendance during the conversation to appear.
Steel was taken into custody Monday afternoon when he refused to answer repeated requests from Glanville on how he heard about a conversation during a meeting that involved prosecutors, the judge and a key witness.
The legal term ex parte, translated from Latin as “out of the party,” refers to a decision made by a judge without requiring all parties in a dispute to be present.
“The judge was having ex parte communications with the district attorney and a witness,” said Tom Church, a trial attorney who showed up in court in a show of support for Steel. “That means he was talking to the attorney and the witness without anyone from the defense being present. And that is generally considered improper.
“So Mr. Steel found out about that, he made a motion for a mistrial, and the judge demanded that Mr. Steel reveal that source,” Church said.
According to the trial’s court reporter, Steel received information about what took place during an ex parte conversation between Fulton County prosecutors and Glanville. When Glanville asked Steel how he received the leaked information, Steel refused to disclose the source.
Glanville said Steel will remain in contempt until he shares where he got the information. Steel is allowed to continue giving counsel in the trial while he is being held in contempt.
Jeffery Williams - aka Young Thug - was arrested on May 9, 2022, along with 27 other suspected gang members in Buckhead as part of a 56-count indictment.
Two years later, Young Thug remains on trial in an Atlanta courtroom. The trial’s jury selection lasted longer than any other in Georgia history, and actual witness testimony itself will likely surpass state records. Both records were set by the Atlanta Public Schools teacher scandal and trial of 2014-15.
The trial – which has been repeatedly plagued by arrests, charges and disruptions – began on Nov. 27, 2023.
Defense attorneys have repeatedly raised concerns that the trial could go on for years based on the number of witnesses the state plans to call up.
Prosecutors are attempting to show YSL, or Young Slime Life, is a criminal street gang responsible for numerous offenses. Defense attorneys say YSL is not a gang but simply the name of a record label, Young Stoner Life.
Young Thug himself is facing eight criminal counts under a federal law that was originally enacted to fight organized crime. Georgia is one of 33 states that has its own RICO law, but in the Peach State, the alleged criminal enterprises do not have to have existed as long as the federal law.
Williams is also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute; possession of codeine with intent to distribute; possession of cocaine; possession of a firearm; and possession of a machine gun.
Attorneys for Williams argue the artist is not the leader of an alleged gang like prosecutors claim.
A total of 18 jurors have been selected, with six of them being alternates. Two jurors have already been excused; one had a medical emergency, and the other moved out of Fulton County.
Atlanta News First is broadcasting gavel-to-gavel coverage of Young Thug’s trial on its live stream and YouTube channel. Download our Atlanta News First app for the latest details.
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