A witness in rapper Young Thug’s extortion trial told the judge he would fall asleep on the stand because he was “so high right now.”
Adrian Bean was called by prosecutors on Tuesday in the long-running Young Slime Life racketeering trial against Jeffery Williams, better known as Young Thug.
The state hoped Bean would be able to determine that Young Thug was at the scene of a drive-by shooting on September 11, 2023.
But he has not provided any useful information in the case so far, and when he took the stand on Tuesday, he had to ask for water and then said, “I’m so high right now, y’all, I’m about to go now sleep with you. I am.’
During his testimony, he claimed he has no memory of the shooting or subsequent car crash because he was regularly using drugs in 2013.
Adrian Bean asked for a bottle of water and then told the jury that he was ‘so high’ during his testimony that he ‘could fall asleep’
Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Williams, is due to appear in court for his racketeering trial
Bean took the stand Tuesday, leaned forward in his chair and caught the court officials’ attention, saying, “Man, umm.
‘Can I get water or something? I’m so high right now, y’all, I’m about to sleep with you. I am.’
A lawyer then approached him and Judge Ural Glanville allowed the lawyer to bring Bean a bottle of water and then allowed the testimony to proceed.
In the lawsuit, prosecutors allege that Young Thug led a violent street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which was responsible for murders, shootings, carjackings and other crimes for about a decade.
Prosecutors allege he used his successful music career and social media posts to promote the gang and establish its dominance.
Bean has stated that he was addicted to ‘molly’ at the time and had no memory of the period in question.
He said he also could not remember what he said during a January 2023 meeting with Brian Steel, Thug’s lead attorney, where he said, “Young Thug was not in the car with us that day.” I don’t even know what his name was actually called.’
Steel then accused him of being untruthful.
Bean’s latest comments about his high during the trial will raise questions about his reliability and the appropriateness of his presence in the courtroom.
It is the latest controversy in the long-running trial of Williams and five other suspects, Shannon “SB” Stillwell, Marquavius ”Qua” Huey, Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, Quamarvious “Qua” Nichols and Rodalius “Lil Rod” Ryan. .
Defense attorneys have said police and prosecutors relied heavily on jailhouse informants who had every incentive to tell them what they wanted to hear.
They have also criticized prosecutors’ use of rap lyrics as evidence of crimes, saying their clients’ art and free speech are being improperly used against them.
A lawyer brought him some water and then Judge Ural Glanville allowed his testimony to continue
Prosecutors hoped he would help them prove Young Thug was at the scene of a shooting in 2013, but he has said he can’t remember most of the year because he was on drugs.
The rapper was pictured in his mugshot in May 2022 following his arrest in the case
The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, appeared in court to give testimony and wore a controversial shirt
During the court hearing, the rapper was seen filing papers
The Grammy winner was charged in 2022 in a sweeping indictment accusing him and more than two dozen others of conspiring to violate Georgia’s anti-racketeering law.
Fulton County Prosecutor Adriane Love did not dispute that Young Thug is a talented artist, but she said he exploited his gift for a darker purpose, using his songs, influence and social media posts to further his gang’s dominance , Young Slime, to promote and establish. Leven, or YSL.
“By that music, by that blessing, the evidence will show, Jeffery Williams led that group of people who wreaked total devastation in Fulton County,” Love told jurors during her Nov. 27 opening statement.
Attorney Brian Steel acknowledged that his client’s songs mention killing police, shooting people, drugs and drive-by shootings, but he said those are just words he rhymed and were a reflection of his rough upbringing and not a chronicle of his own activities.
“They want you to be afraid of music that talks about murder and drugs,” Steel told the jury in his opening statement Tuesday. ‘It’s art. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to listen to it. This is America. It’s art.’
Steel mentioned Young Thug’s collaborations with high-profile artists, television appearances and the countless awards and fortunes that came with them. The rapper is so busy and so successful that he wouldn’t have the time or motivation to lead a gang, Steel said.
“He’s not sitting there telling people to kill people,” he said. ‘He doesn’t need their money. Jeffrey is worth tens of millions of dollars.”
The gang started about a decade ago in Atlanta’s Cleveland Avenue neighborhood, emerging from an internal rift in a previous gang, and Young Thug emerged as its leader, Love said. The gang’s members were “basically connected” — using common identifiers, language, symbols and colors — and they “knew who their leader was and they knew the consequences of disobeying their leader,” she said .
The artist was photographed on stage in Chicago in August 2021
The people directly and indirectly affected by the gang’s violence represent the lives “swallowed up by that crater created by YSL in the Cleveland Avenue community,” Love said.
Young Thug was born into poverty in a crime-ridden housing project, where he developed a strong distrust of the criminal justice system, Steel said. His family moved to the Cleveland Avenue neighborhood when he was 16, and he got out through hard work and talent, Steel said. But he didn’t forget his roots and has been extremely generous with his good fortune, Steel said.
‘He’s not the crater. He’s trying to lift people out of poverty,” Steel said.
The indictment charges all defendants with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Love acknowledged that this may sound complicated, but told the judges it’s actually very simple.
The gang’s members committed crimes including murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and robbery to further the gang’s mission, she said. These actions and others that are not crimes — rap lyrics, social media posts, flashing gang signs — added up to a pattern of illegal activity, she said.
“They were trying to do illegal things to get a bunch of stuff that didn’t belong to them,” Love said.
Prosecutors have made clear they plan to use rap lyrics from the suspects’ songs to bolster their case. This is a controversial tactic, but Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville said earlier this month that he would allow certain texts to be released conditionally as long as prosecutors can prove they are related to the crimes alleged in the indictment.
Prosecutors have said they will not prosecute Young Thug and others over violent lyrics.
“We did not pursue the texts to solve the murders,” Love said. “We pursued the murders and, as the evidence will show, we found the text in the process.”