Lil’ Woody Decision to Testify in YSL RICO Case ‘Depends on How I Wake Up’
Whether or not Lil Woody gives testimony in the ongoing YSL RICO trial all depends on one thing: how he feels.
According to Atlanta News First, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker oversaw a key development in the ongoing Young Thug trial involving the prosecution’s star witness, Kenneth ‘Lil Woody’ Copeland, on Tuesday.
Woody was asked to confirm whether he had legal representation while testifying. Initially unsure, it was eventually determined by prosecutors and defense attorneys that he was still being repped by John Melnick.
He was called back into the courtroom later in the afternoon where Judge Whitaker asked him whether or not he would plead the Fifth Amendment on Monday, when she plans to recall the jury and continue witness testimony.
“Are you gonna say, ‘Okay, ask me what you wanna ask me, I’ll tell you whatever I’m gonna tell you?’ Or are you gonna say, ‘Nope, I don’t care if you throw me in jail. I’m not saying a word. I am not getting on the stand?,’” asked the judge.
“It depends on how I wake up,” Woody said candidly.
His response shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has been keeping up with the latest from the trial.
Woody was held in contempt of court after invoking the Fifth Amendment when refusing to answer questions from prosecutors on June 7. Despite previously serving time in prison in 2018, he had been granted immunity in exchange for testifying against Thug.
During his June 13 court date, Woody confessed to often saying “yes” to questions concerning the 2015 murder of Donovan “Big Nutt” Thomas to speed up the process and that he didn’t remember the specifics of his past statements. He also explained that he often said whatever he thought the authorities would wanted to hear to avoid any potential trouble.
“When they ask me questions, whatever I thought I wanted to say, that’s what I said,” Woody said at the 10:14 mark in the video above. “I can’t say from when to when, but so much was going on. My name was on everything the police kept coming to grab me. Every time they grab me I had a different story for them.”
He continued, “I know 100 percent facts and I’m telling you now, I was not truthful. I was saying whatever they wanted me to say. I was saying whatever I could come up with.”
“I was trying my best to convince them that I didn’t do nothing, that I’m an innocent person, and that people put their hands on me,” he added.
Young Thug, born Jeffrey Lamar Williams, and 27 other YSL members were arrested in a 56-count RICO indictment in 2022. Thug was accused of renting a car that was used in the 2015 murder of Donovan Thomas Jr., who was killed outside of a barbershop in Atlanta during a drive-by shooting.
The trial started last November and, due to its complicated nature, is unlikely to end anytime soon.
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