Young Thug To Put Lyor Cohen & Kevin Liles On Witness Stand

BYGabriel Bras Nevares5.6K Views
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Both music executives are close to Thugger, although it'll be months before they even get to take the stand.

Young Thug recently gave the court a state a list of people he wants to take the witness stand in his RICO case, including Lyor Cohen and Kevin Liles. According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Thug's list includes 36 names that he believes will prove enlightening in his trial. Moreover, jury selection for said trial began in early January after months behind bars. However, Judge Ural Glanville remarked that this process might take months to complete, as the process is exhaustive. Regardless, the YSL codefendants face multiple charges including racketeering, conspiracy to violate RICO, and weapon and drug possession charges.

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 24: Kevin Liles (L) and Lyor Cohen attend The Big Smoke Pre-Grammy Celebration at The Grand Havana Room on January 24, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

Furthermore, Lyor Cohen is currently YouTube's Global Head of Music and is a former Def Jam executive. Also, he co-founded 300 Entertainment with Kevin Liles, former Executive Vice President at Warner Music Group. To explain the Thug connection, 300 Entertainment distributed Young Stoner Life Records' releases, and later sold to Warner Music Group. As such, these executives have a pretty close relationship with the Atlanta superstar. While his trial is still far, far away, the 31-year-old's trial shocked fans with its developments multiple times. For example, officials recently accused some of his YSL codefendants in a prison stabbing.

Still, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Judge Glanville said jury selection will take months despite escalating developments. Moreover, 613 people represented the original juror pool. Following excuses and requests to be absent, authorities scheduled another prospective batch of 300 jurors. Those participants are due February 24, whereas another group of 300 will arrive on March 17. In addition, potential jurors must watch a full video of a reading of the indictment against Thugger and his codefendants. Also, they received the chance to request exemption or excuse from the trial for hardship. Of course, that's what led the jury to the additional jurors they're reviewing now.

“Just for your basic juror math, if we examine five a day, that is four months,” Glanville said. “If you examine a full panel a day, that’s about two and a half months.” Moreover, he excused more than half of the original 613 from the trial. Glanville's goal is to qualify 90 of them, and eventually settle on 12 jurors and six alternates. While jury selection will continue to determine the speed of this case, Thug's witnesses could determine its outcome. As always, come back to HNHH for the latest on the YSL RICO case and Young Thug.

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About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a music and pop culture news writer for HotNewHipHop. He started in 2022 as a weekend writer and, since joining the team full-time, has developed a strong knowledge in hip-hop news and releases. Whether it’s regular coverage or occasional interviews and album reviews, he continues to search for the most relevant news for his audience and find the best new releases in the genre. What excites him the most is finding pop culture stories of interest, as well as a deeper passion for the art form of hip-hop and its contemporary output. Specifically, Gabriel enjoys the fringes of rap music: the experimental, boundary-pushing, and raw alternatives to the mainstream sound. As a proud native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, he also stays up-to-date with the archipelago’s local scene and its biggest musical exponents in reggaetón, salsa, indie, and beyond. Before working at HotNewHipHop, Gabriel produced multiple short documentaries, artist interviews, venue spotlights, and audio podcasts on a variety of genres and musical figures. Hardcore punk and Go-go music defined much of his coverage during his time at the George Washington University in D.C. His favorite hip-hop artists working today are Tyler, The Creator, Boldy James, JPEGMAFIA, and Earl Sweatshirt.