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The racketeering case against rapper Young Thug, which took a long and messy road to get to trial in Fulton County, Georgia, kicked off Monday with a similarly troubled opening statement by a prosecutor from Fani Willis’ office.
One comment in particular stuck out to anyone who has participated in or observed criminal trials. That was when Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love told the jury: “What you will not hear any evidence of is that the defendants were not involved in a criminal street gang.”
The prosecutor’s oddly structured statement raised what’s known as burden shifting. As even casual trial observers or "Law & Order" viewers may know, the burden is on the prosecution to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. A related, but perhaps less appreciated, point is that criminal defendants have no burden at all; they can just sit through the trial and then argue to the jury in closing arguments that the prosecution hasn’t met its burden. That is, it’s up to the prosecution to prove the defendants’ guilt; the defendants don’t have to disprove it, though they’re free to put on their own evidence if they like.
It’s unsurprising, then, that the presiding judge sustained a defense objection to the apparent burden shifting here.
And that wasn’t the only issue in the opening statement against Jeffrey Williams, better known as Young Thug, who the prosecution said heads what it called a gang, Young Slime Life. Williams and his five co-defendants standing trial in Atlanta state court have pleaded not guilty. Issues also arose with Love’s PowerPoint presentation potentially violating judicial orders. The defense moved for a mistrial — not a great sign at the very beginning of a case — which the judge denied, but he wasn’t happy with how the case got started.
Of course, this rough start doesn’t mean the prosecution won’t be able to carry its heavy burden. But it suggests the trial will continue down that long and messy road it took to get to this point, and it raises questions about the office’s preparation ahead of another one of its big racketeering cases, against Donald Trump and others for 2020 election subversion, if that one ever goes to trial.
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