ATLANTA (AP) — After almost a year of testimony in a sweeping gang and racketeering indictment against Young Thug and an initial other 27 defendants, prosecutors rested their case Tuesday in the longest trial in Georgia's history.
Both Deamonte Kendrick, also known as Yak Gotti, and Shannon Stillwell told the judge Tuesday they would not testify in their own defense. Both earlier rejected plea offers after over a week of negotiation.
Defense lawyers indicated that they would ask Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker to direct the jury to issue a verdict of not guilty against Kendrick and Stillwell on Wednesday, which requires the lawyers to argue that no reasonable person could find that the state had proved Kendrick and Stillwell guilty.
If Whitaker rejects the request for a directed verdict, lawyers are also likely Wednesday to argue about instructions to jurors about what they must find to convict Kendrick and Stillwell.
Jurors will return on Thursday and could begin deliberation before the end of the week.
Young Thug, the 33-year-old Atlanta-born Grammy winning artist whose given name is Jeffery Williams, pleaded guilty to gang, drug and gun charges in October after negotiations with prosecutors broke down. That left the sentence up to Whitaker, who let him walk free by sentencing him to time served and 15 years of probation with hefty restrictions, including a ban from the metro Atlanta area for the first 10 years except for certain occasions.
The slow-moving trial has been fraught with problems from the start. Jury selection took nearly 10 months, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville, the original judge, was removed from the case in July after defense attorneys filed a recusal motion based on a secretive meeting he held with prosecutors and a state witness.
Whitaker took over the case and often lost patience with prosecutors for what she once called “poor lawyering.” She and defense attorneys scolded prosecutors for not sharing evidence in advance.
More than 175 witnesses testified throughout the trial. Prosecutors alleged that Young Thug and two others co-founded a violent criminal street gang in 2012 called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which they say is affiliated with the national Bloods gang.
At Young Thug's plea hearing, defense attorney Brian Steel said that Young Thug was “falsely accused" and the evidence against him was weak. He also condemned the use of rap lyrics during the trial.
Steel said he thought they were winning the trial and wanted to stick it out to a jury verdict, but Young Thug wanted to go home to his family instead of sitting through the rest of the trial, which felt like “hell.”
Nine people charged in the indictment, including Atlanta rapper Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, accepted plea deals before the trial began. Twelve others are to be tried separately. Prosecutors dropped charges against one defendant after he was convicted of murder in an unrelated case.
FILE - Judge Paige Reese Whitaker answers the question as she hears arguments for several motions the trial of Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, July 30, 2024, at the Fulton County courtroom in Atlanta. (Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
SEATTLE (AP) — Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest are bracing for what is expected to be the most impactful storm the region has seen in nearly two decades, with strong winds starting to cause power outages Tuesday evening.
The Weather Prediction Center issued excessive rainfall risks beginning Tuesday and lasting through Friday as the strongest atmospheric river — a large plume of moisture — that California and the Pacific Northwest has seen this season bears down on the region. The storm system is considered a “ bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly.
The areas that could see particularly severe rainfall will likely reach from the south of Portland, Oregon, to the north of the San Francisco area, said Richard Bann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center.
“Be aware of the risk of flash flooding at lower elevations and winter storms at higher elevations. This is going to be an impactful event,” he said.
Hurricane-force winds, which are gusts above 75 mph (121 kph), could be felt along the Oregon coast, according to the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon. And near Seattle, conditions for a “mountain wave” are shaping up, bringing large, low elevation wind gusts that could cause widespread power outages and downed trees, said Larry O’Neill, director of the Oregon Climate Service and Oregon State University associate professor.
“This will be pretty strong in terms of the last 10 or 20 years,” he said. "We’ve only seen a couple storms that have really been this strong.”
More than 40,000 customers were without power in western Washington, according to poweroutage.us, as strong winds ramped up and snow in the Cascade Mountain passes began falling Tuesday evening.
The National Weather Service in Seattle said a wind speed of 51 mph (82 kph) was recorded at Ediz Hook, a 3-mile-long (4.8-kilometer) sand spit northwest of Seattle that extends from the northern shore of the Olympic Peninsula at Port Angeles into the Straight of Juan de Fuca. Winds were expected to increase in western Washington throughout the evening, the weather service said.
In northern California, flood and high wind watches went into effect Tuesday, with up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain predicted for parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, North Coast and Sacramento Valley.
A winter storm watch was issued for the northern Sierra Nevada above 3,500 feet (1,066 meters), where 15 inches (28 centimeters) of snow was possible over two days. Wind gusts could top 75 mph (120 kph) in mountain areas, forecasters said.
“Numerous flash floods, hazardous travel, power outages and tree damage can be expected as the storm reaches max intensity” on Wednesday, the Weather Prediction Center warned.
In Northern California’s Yolo County, crews spent Monday clearing culverts, sewers and drainage ditches to avoid clogs that could lead to street flooding. Mesena Pimentel said she hopes the efforts prevent a repeat of floods last February that inundated her property near Woodland.
“We had about ten inches of water in our garage, had a couple gophers swimming around,” Pimentel told KCRA-TV. Woodland city officials set up two locations where residents could pick up free sandbags. Authorities urged people to stock up on food and charge phones and electronics in case power goes out and roads become unpassable.
Meanwhile, Southern California will see dry conditions this week amid gusty Santa Ana winds that could raise the risk of wildfires in areas where crews are still mopping up a major blaze that destroyed 240 structures. The Mountain Fire, which erupted Nov. 6 in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, was about 98% contained Monday.
Winds will calm by the end of the week, when rain is possible for the greater Los Angeles area.
In southwestern Oregon near the coast, 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 centimeters) of rain is predicted — with as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) possible in some areas — through late Thursday night and early Friday morning, Bann said. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for parts of southwestern Oregon through Friday evening.
A high wind warning has been issued for the north and central Oregon coast beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday with south winds from 25 mph (40 kph) to 40 mph (64 kph), with gusts to 60 mph (97 kph) expected, according to the weather service in Portland. Gusts up to 70 mph (113 kph) are possible on beaches and headlands. Widespread power outages are expected with winds capable of bringing down trees and power lines, the weather service said. Travel is also expected to be difficult.
Washington could also see strong rainfall, but likely not as bad as Oregon and California. From Monday evening through Tuesday, some of its coastal ranges could get as much as 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain, Bann said.
The weather service warned of high winds from Tuesday afternoon until early Wednesday for coastal parts of Pacific County, in southwest Washington. With gusts potentially topping 35 mph (46 kph) — and likely faster near beaches and headlands — trees and power lines are at risk of being knocked down, the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency warned.
A blizzard warning was issued for the majority of the Cascades in Washington, including Mount Rainier National Park, starting Tuesday afternoon, with up to a foot of snow and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph), according to the weather service in Seattle. Travel across passes could be difficult if not impossible.
Transportation officials in Washington told ferry riders to expect bumpy rides on Tuesday and said motion sickness medication might be helpful due to rough seas. Service on at least one route was temporarily halted by Tuesday afternoon because of stormy weather, Washington State Ferries said in social media posts.
Officials also urged motorists to consider delaying travel around the state until Wednesday because of high winds and heavy snow expected in the mountains.
“It will only be a winter wonderland in the sense that you’ll be wondering where the heck you are on any given patch of land,” the Washington State Department of Transportation said on social media.
Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press reporter Lisa Baumann in Seattle and Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota contributed to this report.
FILE - A person walks along the beach with flooding along the boardwalk Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024 in Seal Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer, file)
