GA - Rapper Young + others indicted on RICO & other charges, May 2022. Trial ongoing April 2023, interruptions, lawyer arrested. Fulton County. #2

[arielilane]

Bumpus is here and taken the stand.



Bumpus said she has read the June 10 transcript and does not include everything that took place in chambers that morning.

Bumpus said there was a break in which Hylton, Copeland and herself, along with about four deputies, were in the room talking.

Bumpus said she went to the bathroom and then when she came back, Hylton was outside in the hallway and they talked briefly.

Bumpus testified that Hylton told Copeland that she won't let him testify that he killed Donovan Thomas.


Brian Steel is now questioning Bumpus.

Bumpus said a deputy told other deputies to turn off their body cameras.

Bumpus can't confirm whether they did or not. Bumpus said there was a high level of emotional tension inside the judge's chamber.


Bumpus testified that Copeland told Hylton that they don't know what he did or didn't do.


Max Schardt is now questioning Bumpus. Bumpus said she didn't realize it was an ex-parte meeting until Brian Steel made his motion in court after the meeting.


Whitaker has taken over questioning for a brief moment to get clarification. Whitaker seems to be ready to move on.


Careton Matthews was going to ask whether Bumpus was ever told not to disclose the meeting to anyone.Whitaker steps in and tells him that they are not doing anything with Steel's contempt because the issue is now moot.

Adriane Love is now questioning Bumpus, who is avoiding eye contact with Love.

@JozsefPapp_

 

[arielilane]

Adriane Love is now questioning Bumpus, who is avoiding eye contact with Love.


Bumpus testified that Kenneth Copeland never told Simone Hylton that he killed Donovan Thomas. Bumpus said Copeland simply said they didn't know what he did and didn't do.


Judge Whitaker has taken over the questioning to get clarification about exactly what happened from Bumpus.


Whitaker seems to be telling Bumpus that she should have disclosed that the transcript was incomplete over the past two weeks that Bumpus has been inside the courtroom.


Bumpus testified that she told defense attorneys everything about the meeting about an hour after.


Bumpus said Steel, Schardt and Keith Adams approached her to ask about the meeting.


Attorneys are done questioning Bumpus and we are taking a lunch break until 2 p.m.


@JozsefPapp_

 

[arielilane]

X posts pick back up after lunch break:


We are back. We have started out testing everyone's mic.


Love is arguing that there was no Brady violation.


Love is calling DA Investigator Long to the witness stand for argument on this issue.


Long was with Deputy DA Hylton when they went to Judge Glanville's chambers.


Long remained in the judge's chambers with Hylton throughout the duration of the meeting.Long testified that there was a conversation off the record.


Long testified that Hylton did not have any contact with Copeland without Bumpus present.Long doesn't recall Copeland ever saying "I can claim all of this.”


Long doesn't recall talking to Bumpus or Copeland about the Donovan Thomas murder.Long testified that Hylton told Copeland that he would prosecute him for perjury if he testified about something he didn't do.


Bumpus is still sitting behind the media while Investigator Long is testifying.


Long testifies that the off the record conversation was very short.


Long testifies that Copeland never said anything about the Infinity vehicle used in the Donovan Thomas murder.


Max Schardt is now questioning Long.


Long testified that Hylton requested to talk to Bumpus and Copeland off-the-record.


Long testified that Hylton said that if Copeland took credit for something he didn't do or take credit for the killing of Donovan Thomas, she would pursue perjury charges.


Brian Steel is now questioning Investigator Long.


Long didn't have any recording devices or took any notes about the meetings.Didn't know he would have to testify about the meeting today.


Note: Simone Hylton is not in the courtroom today. I think they were discussions about her not being here today when they were trying to decide when to continue with Copeland's testimony.


Long is done testifying.Whitaker asks for any attorney to suggest what this whole thing actually means.



Judge Whitaker said she has been working on the order in response to Schardt's motion filed on Friday.Schardt argues that there was no valid reason for the ex-parte meetings and there were not proper meetings.


Schardt argues that everyone knew Melnick represented Copeland.


Schardt argues that there needs to be relief further than just reporting it to the State Bar of Georgia.


Schardt argues that there are facts that would warrant the disqualification of the Fulton County DA's Office.Whitaker already denied a motion to disqualify Love and Hylton last week.


Whitaker appears to want to hear from Chief Deputy DA Adam Abbate about Melnick's representation of Kenneth Copeland. Abbate handles the major crimes division, including the death penalty case against Robert Aaron Long.


Steel asked Whitaker to reconsider the denial of his motion to disqualify Hylton and Love, which she denied last week.


"It doesn't end," Steel said about the fact that there have been no sanctions against prosecutors for their actions.


Whitaker said "this court takes Brady violations very seriously."And that she is aware she has the authority to remove Fulton County DA prosecutors from the case.


We took a break to allow the state to bring their witness back to testify about Melnick’s representation of Copeland.

Adam Abbate has taken the stand. Similar to Melnick, he wasn't sworn due to being "an officer of the court.”


Love is asking Abbate about a zoom call between Melnick and Judge Whitaker and other members of the court. Abbate testified that Melnick specifically said that he didn't represent Copeland in the YSL case.


The Zoom call was related to conditions of bond for Copeland in a different case.


Peter Hertzog is the next witness. He works in the anti-corruption unit.

Hertzog testified that he has never been asked to reach out to Melnick on behalf of Hylton and Love.He also testified that he has never talked to Melnick about the YSL case and only talked to him about a case in the anti-corruption unit.


Hertzog testified that he attempted to reach out to Melnick but was never able to get in contact with him.


We have taken another break to allow Love to connect the next state witness through Zoom.Before we broke, Whitaker asked prosecutors if they had talked to defense counsel about the remaining Copeland jail calls and they said they had not.


Whitaker said it might be best to redo the entirety of Copeland's testimony, instead of just from June 12, which is what they were thinking about it, unless attorneys can agree on some specific stuff that needs to be excluded.


Whitaker said she is still considering and working through the motions for mistrial.She said that she wants to be ready either way, if she decides to grant them or deny them.


"There are a lot of things up in the air in this case," Whitaker said, adding that there is a lot at stake for everyone here.Whitaker just reminded attorneys that they need to think about of all the potential ways to move forward with this case.


Whitaker doesn't think Copeland's immunity needs to be redone.


Whitaker wants them to talk to each other tonight so tomorrow they can agree what parts of Copeland's testimony needs to be retracted or if the whole testimony needs to be scrapped.



Whitaker not committing to the jury coming back on Wednesday."We'll see how tomorrow goes," Whitaker said about possibly jury coming back on Monday, August 12 instead.


Court resumes 9 a.m. tomorrow.

@JozsefPapp_

 

[arielilane]

@JozsefPapp_

Judge Whitaker is on the bench. First, they are handling whether or not Fulton County DA prosecutors will remain on the case.



Love argues that they didn't violate the rule of ethics and the state had no conversation about the case after they were notified about Melnick's representation of Kenneth Copeland.


It sounds like Whitaker won't rule on the outstanding motions for mistrial until at least Friday since she just gave Love and the DA office until Friday to file responses to Schardt's and Weinstein's motion for mistrial, which also call for grounds of prosecutor disqualification.

"Clearly the forgotten person who should be severed," Attorney Bruce Harvey said after Whitaker forgot to ask them what their position is on what part of Copeland's testimony needs to be redacted.


"Jury is coming back before too much longer," Whitaker told Harvey about some stuff he wants to file before the jury comes back.


Whitaker said no chewing gum allowed in her courtroom after Bruce Harvey was chewing gum.Harvey said he was going to "swallow" the gum.
Whitaker is trying to determine whether they need to redo all of Copeland's testimony. The argument is about whether or not Copeland's testimony was coerced.


"I'm not sure about Mr. Copeland's credibility on anything," Whitaker said about having to ask Copeland on whether or not he was coerced.


Whitaker doesn't believe, when they told Copeland that they could keep him in jail until even the severed co-defendants were tried, was entirely correct under the law. "It's a really close call," Whitaker said about the possibility of determining if his testimony was coerced.

Whitaker said it might be best to bring Copeland in tomorrow to talk about all these issues so he understands what is going on because Whitaker thinks that the state told him some stuff during the June 10 meeting that wasn't entirely correct.


Kenneth Copeland will be back tomorrow so he gets properly advised and learn what his intentions are.Whitaker said it might be good for Copeland to have an attorney since he technically fired Bumpus and Melnick.


Whitaker wants attorneys to tell her whether or not all of Copeland's testimony should be scrapped or just everything after motion to recuse from June 12.

 

[arielilane]

@JozsefPapp_

We are on a break until 10:30.


9:56 AM · Aug 6, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@JozsefPapp_

Whitaker is hearing argument on motions of limine and redactions that need to be taken up. Unlike Glanville, she doesn't want to do them as witnesses come up, and would rather do them ahead of time.


Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat just walked into the courtroom to talk to his deputies.

11:20 AM · Aug 6, 2024

 

[arielilane]

@JozsefPapp_

Copeland is being brought into the courtroom to ask him if he has an attorney or not.


“I don’t know,” Copeland responded to Whitaker after she asked if he has an attorney.




"I never got Mr. Melnick off my case," Copeland said.


Whitaker said some of the information that Copeland was giving in the June 10 was not "factually correct."There seems to be some confusion as to if Copeland refuses to testify, if he has to stay until the conclusion of this trial or the trial of the severed defendants.


Whitaker said they'll reach out to Melnick to see if he can be here this afternoon.She directed attorneys to think over lunch about what instructions to give to Copeland, but wants to make sure Copeland has some legal representation.


Whitaker also ordered the state to do research and provide case law that would actually keep Copeland in custody until after the trial of the severed defendants concludes, if he refuses to testify.


There seems to be some confusion as to whether Melnick still represents Copeland because Bumpus said that she was told that if Copeland testified, there was an agreement for Melnick to withdraw as his attorney. Whitaker wants Melnick here this afternoon to clear it up.


Lunch break until 1:30 p.m.

 

[arielilane]

@JozsefPapp_

We are back and Love is arguing that Copeland can be kept until the severed defendant's trial is concluded, not just this trial. She is using this Georgia code:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820876839323365832

Whitaker seems to think that, if Copeland refuses to testify under the immunity order, he can't be held in custody until the end of the second trial. Whitaker seems to be set to go with the decision that he can only be held until the end of this trial, if he refused to testify.


"You can look all you want," Whitaker told Love after attorney Matthews reads case law that shows Copeland can't be held in custody until the second trial is over, if he refuses to testify.Love had asked to be allowed to read case law.


"I've made my decision," Whitaker said, as Love continues to try to argue that Copeland should be held until the separate trial is over, not just this trial.


Melnick is on the zoom and we are just going to go to him now.


Whitaker said she is checking with Melnick to see if he is still Copeland's attorney. Melnick confirmed that he is Copeland's attorney and has already advised him about the immunity order.


Love doesn't want Copeland to be asked today if he is going to testify.


"We are not having a jury here tomorrow," Whitaker confirmed just now in court. She is bringing Copeland in to ask him if he is going to testify.




Copeland is back on the stand again.




"The court can and will hold you in contempt," Whitaker tells Copeland if he refuses to testify and that he would be held in custody until the end of this trial. Copeland said he doesn't understand what Whitaker just told her.


"It can take a while," Whitaker told Copeland about the potential length of trial. She is planning to have the jury to come back on Monday and told Copeland that they are going to start over with his testimony.


Whitaker is trying to explain the immunity order and perjury to Copeland.


"Depend on how I wake up," Copeland said about whether or not he will testify when they bring the jury back on Monday.


Whitaker asked if the jury is provided with a transcript of videos and audio recordings once they are played. Keith Adams said they objected to giving jurors a transcript.

 

[arielilane]

"I hope you're not chewing gum." - Do not chew gum in Judge Whitaker's courtroom.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820818604461625728

"I never wanted to testify." - Lil Woody makes an appearance in court. Kenneth Copeland says he doesn't know if he has an attorney but then said Melnick is still his attorney - "I guess."

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820851718881673636

Judge Whitaker tells Woody that some of what he was told in chambers (ex parte meeting)......"was not actually factually correct." Woody: "So if I don't testify, how long am I going to be held in jail?"What the judge is talking about is the state telling Woody he could be held in jail until the trials of all the severed defendants are completed. Judge doesn't believe that's correct.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820852680254017752

Judge is trying to get attorney Melnick to come in after the lunch break so he can be there when they have further talks with Woody.

 

[arielilane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820902542244556976

While in court, #YoungThug’s attorney Brian Steel has filed an additional motion to disqualify prosecutors Love and Hylton.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1820903007107608632

He calls for their disqualification based on "ethical violations.""The enormity of violations of candor with the Court, candor with counsel and the denial of ethical prosecutors on this case are too much to permit Love and Hylton to continue as lawyers in this litigation."


Steel then goes on to list eight instances of alleged ethical violations by prosecutors.


He said those ethical violations "does not truly encapsulate the horror of working" with Love and Hylton.Steel said both should be disqualified since they can't be trusted to "provide the simplest and most basic fundamental fairness" including honesty to the court and lawyers.