The pending trial of Young Thug could be delayed again as prosecutors seek separate trials for two of the defendants in the YSL RICO case.
On Tuesday (Feb. 14), the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion requesting that Kahlieff Adams and Tenquarius Mender be removed from the trial because their two attorneys are pregnant, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports.
With the trial expected to last six to nine months, prosecutors fear Adams’ attorney Teombre Calland or Menders’ attorney Nicole Fegan may have to take maternity leave before a verdict is reached. The women’s “threatening and forthcoming personal leave of absence” would prevent them from effectively representing their clients, the motion argued.
Nicole Fegan told the AJC she objected to the language used in the motion and felt the move made prosecutors appear “unsympathetic to expectant mothers,” particularly those like her and Calland, who “already face challenges in belong to a male gender. dominated career.”
“I don’t think pregnancy should be treated as a disease or a disability,” she said. “I think at this point it would be expensive and potentially disadvantageous to try them separately as the jury selection process has already started. We’ve been on this case since May and in May I wasn’t pregnant.”
Both Kahlieff Adams and Tenquarius Mender have stated that they do not wish to be represented by other attorneys.
The prosecutor’s office, not believing that separating these two co-defendants would disrupt the trial, has requested an urgent hearing. However, since the court is on recess until February 21 due to President’s Day, Judge Ural Glanville will not rule on the application until March 1.
If Glanville grants the prosecution’s request, Young Thug’s number of co-defendants in this trial will be reduced to 11. six others will be tried separately as they were not arrested before the trial began.
Co-accused young thugs accused of stabbing prison inmates
Tenquarius Mender was also previously offered a deal by the prosecutor’s office; However, he made the decision just days after Nicole Fegan’s own request to have him suspended from the trial was denied.
Last month, Khalieff Adams made headlines after he was accused of handing Young Thug a single Percocet pill amid a January 18 court case. The entire incident — in which Adams allegedly walked up to Thug, who was sitting next to his attorney, and handed him the pill — was captured by closed-circuit cameras at the Fulton County Supreme Courthouse.
A Fulton County sheriff’s deputy immediately approached Young Thug and asked him to open his hand to reveal what he had received from Adams, also known as Bobby Hunt. After recovering the pill from Thugger, the deputy approached his co-defendant for a search.
Kahlieff Adams attempted to resist the search. However, authorities were able to obtain additional Percocet pills, marijuana, tobacco and other unspecified contraband items hidden with him. The items were wrapped in plastic and spices to mask the smell of cannabis, court documents said.
According to WSB-TV, attorney Surinder K. Chadha Jimenez, representing one of Thug and Adams’ other co-defendants, filed a motion the following Friday (January 20), alleging the man was “repeatedly reprimanded.” after the search.
Jimenez also requested that an independent law enforcement agency, such as the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, review the entire incident to determine not only whether Young Thug and Kahlieff Adams committed a crime, but also whether the Fulton County Sheriff’s Deputy used excessive force .
Authorities claimed the defendant was taken to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital after attempting to take some of the items he was carrying, but Jimenez offered a different account of events.
“Shortly after Mr. Adams was transferred to the rear holding cells, the undersigned attorney, his client and several others in the courtroom could hear loud banging and screaming coming from the holding area where Mr. Adams was being held,” the defense attorney wrote. “While the disturbance was taking place, several officers ran into the courtroom and proceeded to the holding area where Mr. Adams was being held.”
The motion further suggested that the entire exchange could affect the jury selection process, since potential jurors could hear the same noises coming from the hallway they were waiting in outside the courtroom.
In an interview with WSB-TV, shared via Twitter by reporter Michael Seiden, Young Thug’s attorney, Keith Adams, pleaded his client’s innocence.
“The reality is that Mr. Williams had nothing to do with what went on in the courtroom yesterday,” the attorney said. “One of the co-defendants, on the way to the toilet, tried to hand something to Mr. Williams, who immediately handed it to the deputy. He didn’t know what it was, handed it over to the deputies straight away.”
