Record Wolf: Week two of the Young Thug trial
A detailed look into the first two weeks of the YSL RICO trial.
Happy Friday, y’all. As promised, here’s a rundown of the last two weeks of the Young Thug/YSL Rico trial. In order to get this newsletter published by Friday afternoon each week, I’ve decided that recaps from court on Friday will publish in the newsletter for the following week. As always, I’ll post any breaking news in real time on X.
Note: This newsletter will be longer than usual because it’s recapping two weeks instead of one. I also won’t be sending this out to all email subscribers moving forward in an effort not to alienate folks who aren’t interested in extensive coverage of this case.
Quick stats
Week no.: 2
Witnesses who have testified: 23 (of roughly 400 witness for the state)
Cases of mistaken identity: 1
My assessment
The one thing that has really stood out to me this week is the numerous times defense attorneys got witnesses to admit that these incidents were written up to include suspected gang activity. We’re still super early in this trial, but I suspect this will be an ongoing tactic as attorneys seek to cast doubt on the fact that these alleged crimes were done in furtherance of a gang.
Big News
A juror was excused this week after being hospitalized.
Judge Glanville and defense attorneys continue to be frustrated with the state for not submitting their witness lists and presentations in a timely manner. “I don’t want to have this conversation again,” Glanville told the state on Monday. “I’m becoming very very skeptical at this point in time. Exclusion would not be a far reaching remedy for me at this point.”
In one of the more bizarre moments of court this week, Mariah the Scientist admitted to purchasing a wolf sweater (seen above) that Thug wore in the second week of the trial. She said she purchased it before prosecutors compared YSL to a “wolf pack” in their opening arguments. The relation to the opening statements, she told WSBTV’s Michael Seiden, was “pure coincidence.”
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Opening Statements
To cut down on the insane length of this issue, I’ll point you to my previous coverage of opening arguments here, here and here.
Witness Testimonies
Detective Mark Belknap
Relevancy: He testified as an expert in the identification and practices of criminal street gangs. His role was to describe the formation of YSL as a gang.
Belknap said he first heard of the gang ROC (Raised on Cleveland) in late 2009/early 2010 when he began working in the area, but he believes the gang was formed in 2006 or 2007. He said APD identified more than 100 members and associates of the gang, which used a 5-point star as its symbol and was affiliated with the gang 30 Deep. Around this time, Belknap said he begin to hear members refer to Cleveland as “Bleveland.”
The detective said the group began to use a new name in 2012/2013 after increased law enforcement attention. (A photo on social media alluded to leader Quinton “Big Boo” Porter speaking with law enforcement. Also, a wiretap picked up a phone call between Porter and Trontavious “Tick” Stephens. Stephens was suspected of committing an armed robbery of an NBA player. NOTE: Stephens took a plea deal and is no longer a defendant in this case. He could be called to testify by the state.)
Around this time, local schools such as South Atlanta and parents in the area began reporting activity related to a group called “Slime Gang.” The group eventually became known as Young Slime Life (YSL). “We discovered many of the members now claiming to be YSL had previously claimed to be members of ROC Crew," Belknap said. The detective said this group became known for narcotic sales on Cleveland Ave., burglaries, auto thefts and ATM thefts. Like ROC, they also had an association with 30 Deep. Eventually, the group formed a rivalry with the Inglewood Family (IF) gang. Note: This is the gang Donovan Thomas, who prosecutors allege was murdered by members of YSL, was the leader of. The state plans to argue that Young Thug rented the car that was used in the drive-by during which Thomas was killed.
Belknap distinguished between Young Stoner Life, the Georgia-incorporated record label and what he believes to be the criminal street gang known as Young Slime Life. “When I refer to YSL what I’m referring to is Young Slime Life,” he said.
While Young Thug was never directly referenced as a member (or leader) by Belknap, prosecutors showed several photos of the rapper holding up what they allege to be YSL gang signs.
Melissa Rosser
Relevancy: Rosser’s car was stolen and eventually found in a neighborhood where Trontavious Stephens was accused of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon towards a police officer. Prosecutors never directly tie Stephens to the car theft.
The “house mom” has worked at the Pink Pony South and The Gold Rush (as of 2011). Prosecutors had her describe her typical work schedule. She was arriving home to her neighborhood in Newnan at 4:30 a.m. on a Friday in January 2013 when the car she was driving, her daughter’s 2012 Chevy Malibu was hit from behind. When she got out of her car, a man greeted her before jumping into the Chevy Malibu and driving off. She identified the person who took her car as a young Black man who looked like he was in his early 20s. “He looked like any average young man. He didn't look like a football player. He was at least 5’7, shorter than me. Not thin build, just an average build,” she said.
Items that were in the car when it was stolen: $1,000 in Rosser’s purse, checks totaling about $2,000 from members of the gym she owned, a custom order laptop that cost $3,200, credit cards, drivers license, social security card, iphone, etc.
Her car was eventually located by OnStar.
Prosecutors attempted to allude that the thieves might have followed her from work but Rosser said she didn’t notice. “Anyone following me, I would’ve been oblivious,” she said. During cross examinations, Thug’s attorney Keith Adams noted how far Newnan is from The Gold Rush at least 35 minutes) and the house mom said she doesn’t know what transpired between when her car was stolen and when it was located in Atlanta. Rosser also said she doesn’t remember seeing Trontavious Stephens at The Gold Rush before this incident.
Reginald Pettis
Relevancy: See Above.
At the time of the 2013 incident, was an investigator in zone 3 who had previously worked on identifying stolen car thieves. He was in an unmarked car and plain clothes on this day in January 2013. He responded to the neighborhood after OnStar tracked Rosser’s car there.
Pettis said men seen backing the car into a parking spot went into apartment no. 7 and, eventually, Trontavious Stephens came out of the unit and pointed the barrel of a gun in the officer’s direction. Stephens was eventually taken into custody and a gun matching the description of the one he was holding was found inside of a nearby bucket.
During cross examinations, Pettis admits he never actually saw Stephens interact with the stolen car, nor did they find the keys in apartment no. 7. The officer had said Stephens flashed gang signs at him, but also admitted he wasn’t able to identify what the gang sign was and that he hadn’t included this in his incident report.
Sgt. Jonathan Heeb
Relevancy: He arrested Shannon Stillwell for posessing a clear plastic bag of weed, as well as 50 individually packaged bags of weed (1 gram each).
Heeb apprehended Shannon Stillwell for a probation violation at “The Green Store,” a southeast Atlanta convenience store known to law enforcement as a place where drugs were often sold. “The word we’d gotten and what we could see is that if you were operating any kind of illegal activity at that location you had permission to do so or you were involved with the group that had authority there, for lack of a better word,” he said. “In that area, at the time, it was primarily 30 Deep…”
Andrew Phillips
Relevancy: His gun was stolen and subsequently found in a car with Young Thug.
Phillips was residing in Buckhead in 2013 when he returned from vacation to find his handgun and shotgun, his wife’s Macbook and a blanket had been stolen. Prosecutor’s showed him a handgun that he confirmed looked like his.
Michael Monheim
Relevancy: See Above. Monheim was the APD officer who conducted a traffic stop and discovered Young Thug was driving without a license and possessed the gun that was stolen from Phillips.
During cross examination, Thug’s attorneys emphasized that there’s no video or audio from the traffic stop.
Deputy Morris Kandakai
Relevancy: Conducted the arrest of Stephens (who has, again, already taken a plea deal) and Shannon Stillwell for the below reasons:
Carlos Maldanado
Relevancy: Conducted a stop on a car that had a suspected illegal window tint (it was subsequently determined that the tint was below the legal limit). Quamarvious Nichols was arrested during this stop, although defense attorneys note officer Maldanado’s report doesn’t state that he suspected any gang activity.
Sgt. Charles Ross
Relevancy: See below.
Sgt. Ross encountered Quamarvious Nichols on this day via Instagram. An Instagram video showed what Ross suspected to be marijuana so he went to try to locate Nichols.
During cross examinations, defense attorney Nicole Westmoreland got Sgt. Ross to admit he Nichols wasn’t in the car when he found it and that he can’t pinpoint the exact time Nichols was in the car via an Instagram video. Defense attorney Keith Adams likened the encounter to harassment. Sgt. Ross said he didn’t document any suspected gang activity but he believes he made the gang unit aware of the incident.
Defense attorneys also attempted to poke holes in the testimony of Sgt. Jonathan Cornelius whose canine detected drugs in the car Sgt. Ross associated with Nichols. Attorney Careton Matthews noted that the dog didn’t pick up on a blunt that was outside of the car. When former GBI forensic examiner Josh Macenczak testified that he tested one of the drugs confiscated on the scene and determined it to be bath salts, attorney Westmoreland noted that Nichols had previously been accused of possessing MDMA. She also noted that prosecutors did not ask the GBI to test any of the other substances found on the scene.
Sherrod Stancil
Relevancy: Officer arrested Derontae Bebee (who has also accepted a plea deal and is no longer a part of this case, but could be called to testify) for possession of .5 grams of crack cocaine.
Ian Applewhaite
Relevancy: Officer conducted an undercover buy of $20 worth of marijuana from BeBee at an Exxon gas station on Cleveland Avenue.
Officer Jasmyn Mogavero (formerly Hawkins) testified she searched BeBee’s car and found 13 grams of marijuana and the marked $20 from officer Applewhaite. She also confiscated a stolen firearm from Bebee.
Stephen McKesey
Relevancy: Officer was off duty when he pulled into the Chevron on Cleveland Avenue to get some gas in an unmarked car. “It’s a known drug area with a lot of violence,” he said. “There’s a lot of different types of crimes that occur at that particular gas station. It’s also known to be a gang area as well.” He said YSL was specifically known to frequent the area.
McKesey said he noticed a lot of activity at the gas station, including a man in a red sedan who was holding a rifle. Another car with three passengers, including Thug’s brother Quantavious Grier aka Unfoonk (who accepted a plea deal in this case but was subsequently arrested again). The officer said the driver of the second car, a white sedan, handed a gun to an older drunk man who was walking around threatening to kill someone before subsequently taking the gun back. When the officer called for backup, Grier was subsequently arrested for possessing a stolen gun. “He stated it belonged to his sister,” another officer, Dwayne Thomas said. During cross examination, Thomas admitted Grier was the only person arrested despite other people on the scene allegedly having guns.
I’m sure you all have seen the awkward exchange by now when attorney Matthews asked McKesey to identify Grier in the courtroom and the officer mistook him for a defense attorney. Grier is, again, no longer a part this trial so he wasn’t actually in the courtroom.
Radcliff Henry
Relevancy: While responding to reports of a shooting, officer Henry came in contact with a man, Marquavious Huey, matching the suspect description of a Black man dressed in all black. During a chase of the suspect, Henry says Huey dropped a gun that was confiscated and determined to be stolen from Winder, Georgia three years prior.
Jurors previously heard from Sharon Latners who introduced audio of 911 calls from people reporting a shooting of multiple people in Grant Park. Huey’s attorney Careton Matthews gets the officer to admit he never interviewed Huey about a shooting and that no victim ever alleged they were shot by his client. The officer also didn’t charge Huey with gang activity or refer the case to the gang unit.
