Young Thug and YSL’s high-profile racketeering trial has taken yet another dramatic turn as Judge Paige Reese Whitaker hints at the possibility of a mistrial. The unexpected development could bring the months-long proceedings to a halt, but with the potential for the case to be restarted.
The issue arose during the testimony of a state witness, Wunnie Lee, who was shown a social media post while on the stand. The post contained a hashtag, #FreeQua, allegedly referring to one of Young Thug’s co-defendants, Marquavius Huey.
However, the jury was shown a version of the post with the hashtag redacted to prevent them from learning that Huey or another defendant, Quamarvious Nichols, had been incarcerated. Despite the redaction, Wunnie, reading from an unredacted version, mistakenly read aloud the hashtag in court.
This slip prompted Nichols’ defense attorney, Nicole Westmoreland, to immediately call for a mistrial, arguing that the damage had already been done. “We’re not going to be able to unring this bell,” Westmoreland argued, pointing out that the jury was now aware of information they should not have heard, including details of Nichols’ imprisonment.
Westmoreland emphasized that this was not the first time such an error had occurred, and her frustration was clear. She also accused the prosecution of failing to properly prepare their witnesses, leading to these repeated missteps.
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Judge Whitaker was equally critical, chastising the prosecution for what she described as a preventable mistake. “It’s just sloppy,” she said, disbelieving that the oversight had occurred in such a high-stakes trial.
The court briefly adjourned to allow the defense teams to consider whether to formally request a mistrial without prejudice, allowing the state to restart the case from scratch. However, by the end of the day, no decision had been made, leaving the possibility of a mistrial looming over the trial.
