The credibility of key prosecution witness Kenneth Copeland was the focus of a week of tortured testimony at Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug ’s gang and racketeering trial in Atlanta. Copeland, whose first appearance in the trial last June led to Judge Ural Glanville being removed from the high-profile case , returned to the stand Monday under the watchful eye of Glanville’s replacement, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker . Over several combative days of testimony, Copeland said “I don’t recall” hundreds of times and claimed he lied repeatedly to investigators during a series of police station interviews in the aftermath of the January 2015 drive-by shooting murder of Donovan “Nut” Thomas Jr.
Copeland’s refusal to repeat potentially incriminating details he told police during one particularly significant sit-down in June 2015 prompted prosecutors to play key portions of that interview for the jury on Friday. In the recorded meeting, Copeland claimed that his friend Damekion “Lil Dee” Garlington was with Young Thug, born Jeffery Williams, the night of the murder. Copeland told police that Garlington, an alleged member of William’s purported Young Slime Life ( YSL ) gang, said Williams was in the mix when members of YSL first spotted Thomas at a barbershop the night of the killing.
In a critical – and highly disputed – section of the June 2015 interview previewed to jurors through Copeland’s examination and opening statements, Copeland claims that Garlingto.