The Young Thug trial has been marred by issues from the start. This week, Judge Glanville, the original Judge assigned to the case was recused. His replacement was Judge Ingram, who recused herself because of a conflict involving one of the codefendants.
Let's start at the beginning. The initial recusal of Judge Glanville was because of a meeting that was conducted improperly. Judge Glanville met with the prosecution, a witness, and the attorney for the witness without notifying Young Thug's attorney. Generally, this is called ex-parte communications. This term is used when there is improper contact with a party or the Judge.
Essentially, if a conversation is happening between a Judge and the attorney for one side of the case, the other attorney has to be notified and present. In the current situation, based on all the information collected, there was a conversation, and Young Thug's lawyer wasn't present, which is against the professional rules of conduct.
Why is this so bad? Judges are supposed to be impartial. While presiding over a criminal case, they must take all the facts and ensure the jury hears the correct things. Any sign that they are not impartial can destroy a case and could lead to a mistrial or in this case a recusal of the Judge. When reviewed by a different Judge, the actions of Judge Glanville were not impartial, so he was removed.
Sometimes, a Judge can recuse themselves without being told. Normally, this happens due to personal or political conflicts. It may also happen due to biases. For example, if a Judge has a history with a certain crime, they may recuse themselves from a case involving that crime. The logic is, "I can't be impartial because of my personal experience with (insert issue here)."
This leads to why Judge Ingram had to recuse herself. She did so because one of her courthouse deputies had a romantic relationship with one of the codefendants. This is a perfectly understandable reason for a Judge to recuse themselves. Even if she doesn't know how it will affect her decision-making, having the thought that it may be enough to recuse yourself.