YSL Public Defenders Planning to Quit Trial Due to Low Pay

Man! Young Thug can’t catch a break. Now the public defense lawyers representing his co-defendants are threatening to quit due to insufficient funds.

I understand their point. If the case is taking up a significant amount of time, then yes they are being paid insignificantly for their time and efforts. Nobody can afford to live off $15,000 per year. Especially in Atlanta the city of “bullshit walks, money talks”.

I wonder what will the counsel quitting the trial midstream do for Young Thug’s defense? Will it delay the trial until new counsel can be obtained & prepped? Who knows how long that could take. That means Thug will most likely have to stay in jail in the interim. So far there have been multiple delays during the jury selection process due to intricate candidate screening – among other hold ups. To date, jury selection has taken 4 months with no end date in sight.

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WSBTV ATLANTA— Several attorneys in the high-profile case of alleged criminal street gang Young Slime Life and rapper Young Thug say if they’re not paid more, they may quit the trial.

They say the small amount they have been paid is affecting their livelihoods because they do not have time to work on other cases.

“It’s bigger than we just want money,” defense attorney Justin Hill said.

“A case of this length not only affects the indigent clients but also our paying clients,” defense attorney Eric Johnson said.

The Georgia Public Defender Council is paying each attorney $15,000 to represent their clients at trial, regardless of how long it takes.

“I didn’t know that I would be there every single day. I’m not able to take on any other case. I’m not able to go to other court hearings. I’m not able to go to anything else,” said defense attorney Angela D’Williams.

These attorneys say they were told the trial could last anywhere from nine to 12 months, but jury selection has taken months longer than anticipated.

A spokesperson for the GPDC said in a statement, in part, “The agency is open to meeting with the attorneys, though their demand for a payment of $33,260.00 per attorney and at least $15,000 per attorney per month going forward present considerable challenges.”