\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe threat of<\/span> a possible mistrial loomed large over Young Thug<\/a>\u2019s gang and racketeering trial Monday as the contentious proceeding resumed in earnest with jurors returning from a nearly two-month break.<\/p>\n \n\tKey prosecution witness Kenneth \u201cWoody\u201d Copeland was due to retake the witness stand after his prior appearance in the Atlanta case in June led to a controversial secret meeting. That meeting, in turn, led to the recusal of the former judge on the case<\/a>, Fulton County Chief Judge Ural Glanville. \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAt a hearing without the jury last week, Copeland told the court he wasn\u2019t sure if he would show up Monday and willingly testify under his immunity deal with prosecutors or refuse to cooperate in a move that would land him in jail on a contempt charge. \u201cIt depends on how I wake up,\u201d he told the court Tuesday.<\/p>\n \n\tDepending on Copeland\u2019s decision, jurors were set to be instructed to disregard either all or a portion of his prior testimony and any evidence related to his testimony. The new judge on the case<\/a>, Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, said she was planning to then ask the jurors if they felt capable of following such an instruction. The judge said she wanted to know sooner rather than later if the response from any of the jurors might be, \u201cI just cannot do that. Once I hear it, I can\u2019t unhear it,\u201d because she would then have to \u201cexcuse those jurors.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAnd I guess if it\u2019s eight jurors that say that, then we might have a mistrial, but better to go ahead and figure out from the outset as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d Judge Whitaker said, acknowledging the question could blow up the 19-month trial that started with jury selection in January 2023. Whitaker cited an appellate court case as the basis for asking the question and said that such an inquiry of the panel seemed \u201clike a pretty good idea to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe jury hearing the case has 12 members and four alternates, so it would only take five jurors saying they wouldn\u2019t be able disregard Copeland\u2019s testimony for a possible mistrial.<\/p>\n