Anish Vij
Young Thug's lawyer wants to remove YSL Polo from trial due to his ‘unprofessional behavior’ in court.
YSL Polo is one of the defendants in the 'Go Crazy' rapper's RICO trial, which could become one of the longest trials in Georgia state history.
The Grammy-winning artist - whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams - was arrested at his home in Buckhead, Atlanta last year.
According to jail records, he, along with 28 other people in Atlanta, are accused of conspiracy to violate the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
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Prosecutors allege that Williams, 32, is one of the founders of a criminal street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, and that he and others have committed numerous crimes to further the gang’s interests.
William's record label, Young Stoner Life, is also apparently connected, with the label reportedly calling it's artists the 'Slime Family'.
In a press conference on 10 May, district attorney Fani Willis said: “It does not matter what your notoriety is or what your fame is.
"If you come to Fulton County, Georgia, you commit crimes, and certainly if those crimes are in furtherance of a street gang, then you are going to become a target and a focus of this district attorney’s office, and we are going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law."
However, William's lawyer, Brian Steel, has said that the rapper has 'committed no crime whatsoever'.
Williams and 13 others have been listed as defendants in the racketeering trial.
One of those defendants is YSL Polo - real name Cordarius Dorsey - who has been filmed in court doing 'extra movements' and not co-operating with his lawyers.
And Steel has since filed a motion to sever parties.
In newly obtained documents, Steel said: “Jeffery Williams, by and through undersigned counsel, hereby files this Motion to Sever Parties in the above-referenced case. In support of this Motion, Mr. Williams shows as follows.
"1) Mr. Williams is innocent of all charges in the above-referenced indictment.
"2) Mr. Dorsey, a co-indictee, has displayed unprofessional and unacceptable conduct in Court, in the presence of this Honorable Court, as announced on the Record on Thursday, August 31, 2023.
"3) Based upon information and belief, during a separate trial, Mr. Dorsey, using movements with his hands, threatened the prosecutors as well as the jurors.
"4) Mr. Williams has filed a Demand for Speedy Trial and will not upset that Demand for Speedy Trial.
"However, Mr. Williams asks this Honorable Court to exercise its discretion and sever Mr. Dorsey so that Mr. Williams’ Constitutional right to a fair trial is not prejudiced.”
The documents also referenced an incident on Thursday, 31 August, 2023, where Dorsey was not cooperating with his with attorney, Surinder Chadha Jiminez, Esq.