ATLANTA — A jury was seated Wednesday for the upcoming trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug and the alleged "Young Slime Life" street gang, capping a monthslong process that began back in January.
The jury breakdown includes seven Black women, two white women, two Black men and one white man. After being selected, Judge Ural Glanville swore the jury in.
Judge Glanville ad announced in court Monday he was moving up the process to this week from later this month out of considerations for Georgia speedy trial law. The process, which can sometimes take days, was completed in a single day's session in court.
It brings the beginning in sight for a trial that will question whether Young Thug is, as prosecutors have alleged, the kingpin - or "King Slime" as he was called in a proceeding last year - of a YSL street gang or if, as his defense attorneys have argued, YSL is simply a record label and lifestyle brand miscast by overly aggressive prosecutors.
Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, requested a speedy trial soon after his initial arrest last year. There were questions in court of whether that needed to be satisfied by Nov. 6 at the latest, leading to the decision by Judge Glanville to accelerate seating the jury.
The jury selection process has been a winding, labored one that has spanned nearly the entirety of this year. It began in January and already, in April, defense attorneys were calling it "the longest in Georgia history." Five months have passed since.
Young Thug meanwhile has remained in jail since his initial arrest in May 2022, roughly a year-and-a-half of pretrial detention. His attorneys have lobbied for - and been denied - bond on several occasions, most recently in June.
Attorneys for the rapper have argued his health has declined while incarcerated and that he has "languished" in the Cobb County Jail, sleep deprived due to court appearances and eating many foods lacking in nutrition.
"This lifestyle has caused physically harm to Mr. Williams," his lawyer said at the June hearing, adding that issues with his kidneys coupled with the environment in the jail have caused him to gain weight
Prosecutors have built their case around the narrative that Young Thug is the kinghead figure of the alleged gang - calling him "King Slime" in one of the early hearings. They've argued they have evidence showing he would intimidate witnesses.
The rapper's attorneys have denied those claims emphatically, arguing YSL is simply his record label - Young Stoner Life - and that there is no street gang to speak of.
Ultimately, Judge Glanville has continued to decide to keep Young Thug in jail without bond.
Meanwhile, many of the other defendants originally indicted alongside the rapper have either taken deals - such as the one that got Gunna out of jail last December - or been dropped from the case for various reasons.
According to attorneys for Young Thug, there are seven defendants set to go to trial together remaining from the original indictment that included 28 people.