Lawyers for defendant Deamonte Kendrick asked the appeals court to stay the trial and order Glanville to let another judge consider whether his recusal was justified. Kendrick’s attorneys also asked the state Supreme Court to direct Glanville to produce an unredacted transcript of the June 10 private meeting in his chambers.
“Before seeking original relief from this court, Kendrick must prove that he first sought proper channels for relief in Superior Court, and was barred from doing so,” the state Supreme Court said. “He admits that he did not file a stand-alone petition against Chief Justice Glanville in the Supreme Court.”
Mandamus is a legal term for a court order directing a person or organization to do something.
In the petition to the state Supreme Court, Kendrick’s attorneys argued that seeking relief in the lower court would be futile, as the request would be assigned to Glanville, who would simply deny it.
The state Supreme Court said Glanville “would be disqualified from presiding over this matter” if Kendrick filed a petition for an order forcing Glanville to refer the recusal requests to another judge.
Kendrick’s petition will be heard by another judge, and either party can appeal the final decision, the state Supreme Court said. “Although this court has the authority to grant original relief in the form of a mandatory injunction (under Georgia law), it has chosen to maintain its general status as a court of appeals and to exercise its original jurisdiction only in extremely rare cases where the need to do so is demonstrated.”
“We have not yet finished seeking relief,” Doug Weinstein, one of Kendrick’s attorneys, said on social media Thursday.
“The (state Supreme Court) has set a clear path that not only we should follow, but that Fulton and (Presiding Judge) Glanville should follow as well,” Weinstein wrote in a public post about the ruling.
Defense attorneys have expressed concerns that Glanville and prosecutors improperly pressured witness Kenneth Copeland during a closed-door testimony conference. Copeland was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony against the defendants. He was jailed for contempt of court when he initially refused to answer questions while on the witness stand.
Copeland testified after the private hearing in the judge’s chambers.
When Young Thug’s lead attorney, Brian Steel, learned of the meeting and asked Glanville to explain what happened, Glanville held Steele in contempt of court and sentenced him to 20 days in jail — the maximum possible sentence. The judge demanded to know how Steele learned of the meeting and Steele refused to reveal its source, citing confidentiality rules.
The judge’s handling of the case has angered several Georgia lawyers who say Steele was just doing his job and should not have revealed how he learned of the meeting.
The state Supreme Court stayed Steele’s sentence on June 12 while it considers whether Glanville’s contempt ruling was appropriate. The court’s decision is expected to take several months.
Glanville has scheduled a hearing to determine whether any of the people involved in the meeting should also be held in contempt of court for telling the defense attorneys about it. In Georgia, contempt of court can be punished criminally by a fine or up to 20 days in jail.
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