On June 11, rapper Lil Woody, whose real name is Kenneth Copeland, took the stand as part of the ongoing YSL RICO trial of rapper Young Thug (Jeffrey Lamar Williams), after spending the weekend in jail for refusing to testify last week.
In the wake of this, the judge presiding over the case, Ural D. Glanville, asked Lil Woody whether he wanted to proceed with his lawyer, Miss Bumpass. In response, Copeland, in the middle of his testimony, said, “She [is] fired. I don’t want her.”
Meanwhile, Miss Bumpass had previously requested the court to remove her as Lil Woody’s counsel and informed the judge her client fired her before he took to the stand on Tuesday.
Independent reporter and legal journalist Meghann Cuniff shared the developments from the case on X, and the video of the incident has now gone viral.
Lil Woody pled the 5th on the stand last week
On Tuesday, Miss Bumpass, Lil Woody's attorney, requested the judge's permission to be taken off his case. The rapper too agreed with his counsel’s request and “fired” her in open court, stating he didn’t want her.
However, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Glanville refused to let her go as she was present during his testimony. Miss Bumpass then requested to “approach” the bench. While the judge initially declined her proposal, he eventually let her and the prosecution approach the bench.
Later, Lil Woody’s lawyer submitted an order to the court requesting her official withdrawal from representing her client in the YSL RICO trial, which the judge granted. However, Glanville informed her she would have to appear before the court on June 25 to show probable cause for her resignation.
The judge went over Copeland’s options, including keeping his current attorney, hiring a new one, granting the court to appoint one for him, or simply representing himself. In response, he questioned whether he really needed a lawyer, and later said, “I’m good,” hinting that he opted for the last option.
Notably, as per Meghann Cuniff and Law & Crime managing editor Cathy Russon, Judge Glanville suspected that Miss Bumpass broke confidentiality and shared the details from Monday’s ex parte chamber meeting between the prosecution and Lil Woody with Young Thug’s attorney Brain Steele.
Last Friday, the authorities took Copeland into custody after he invoked his Fifth Amendment Right to avoid incriminating himself and refused to testify against Young Thug, despite having a contingent immunity deal in place. As a result, he spent the weekend in jail.
In the wake of this, Young Thug’s counsel asked for a mistrial, which the judge declined.
On Monday, the authorities also arrested Brian Steele after he refused to share with the judge how he gathered information from the ex parte meeting and was held in contempt after confronting the judge for communicating with one of the “sworn-in” star witnesses.
The video of his arrest also garnered enough traction online courtesy of Meghann Cuniff. Steel will serve 20 days behind bars, which he can carry out over 10 weekends at the Fulton County Prison.
Tuesday was day 89 in the ongoing YSL RICO trial of Young Thug and his five co-defendants including Shannon “SB” Stillwell, Marquavius “Qua” Huey, Deamonte “Yak Gotti” Kendrick, Quamarvious “Qua” Nichols, and Rodalius “Lil Rod” Ryan.
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