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YSL trial delayed after chaos erupts during jury selection

By and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  April 19, 2023 10:16pm EDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 5 Atlanta

Screams heard during YSL trial

The expression on rapper Young Thug’s face, whose legal name is Jeffrey Williams, seemed to echo the confusion felt by many inside the courtroom. Video from court shows a commotion break out after screams are heard from a defendant behind closed doors during a recess.

ATLANTA - It was a chaotic day inside the Fulton County courthouse as screams could be heard during jury selection in the YSL gang trial on Wednesday.

The expression on rapper Young Thug’s face, whose legal name is Jeffrey Williams, seemed to echo the confusion felt by many inside the courtroom. Video from court shows a commotion break out after screams are heard from a defendant behind closed doors during a recess. In the video, those who appear to be in the back become agitated and try to figure out what is happening.

"It’s ridiculous. This should not happen in the middle of a trial," said Suri Chadha Jiminez, who represents Coradrius Dorsey, one of 28 people named in the sweeping RICO indictment. "A bunch of the deputies went over to the table where Mr. Ryan and his attorney Ms. Angela were sitting, and they asked him to step to the back."

Jimenez says defendant Rodalius Ryan was taken to the back, but no one knows why.

"They take him back there, and we could hear the screams. And as you could hear the screams coming from the back a lot of us were concerned," Jiminez told FOX 5. "The attorneys we stood up and were trying to figure out what was going on."

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A commotion breaks out after screams are heard during jury selection in the YSL trial.

In the video, a court official can be heard telling everyone to "just chill." Then, two people are put in handcuffs before a third person is placed in custody. Someone can then be heard telling law enforcement to clear the courtroom.

The day's events are just another hiccup in what’s expected to be an extremely long trial. Jury selection began in January and not a single juror has been seated.

Jimenez says it is hard to find a willing jury.

"To ask somebody to step away from their life for six to nine months, I'm surprised that there’s anybody saying that’s not a hardship," he said. "That’s why it’s taking so long."

Once allowed back in, one defense attorney told the judge they believe the prosecution was behind what they called a "spectacle and embarrassment."

Prosecutors denied this in court.

Officials have yet to confirm what led up to the screaming.