Shelby County judge won't recuse himself from Young Dolph case

The Shelby County Criminal Court judge overseeing the case of the four men indicted on charges in the death of Memphis rapper Young Dolph will not recuse himself from the case, he said after hearing a motion Friday morning.

Luke Evans, an attorney for Justin Johnson, one of the four men facing charges, sought to remove Judge Lee V. Coffee from the case because the judge signed an order preventing Johnson from having contact from jail with anyone except his lawyer. Evans argued the judge did that without hearing evidence, thus showing a bias in the case.

The order stemmed from allegations Johnson had recorded a rap song through the jail's phone, which was then posted to YouTube.

The song contained lyrics about Johnson's life in jail.

"The court, in essence made findings of fact and conclusions of law based on information gleaned outside of court proceedings," Evans said. "There was no hearing ... and the court made a finding about specific things to Mr. Johnson without giving him the opportunity to be heard, without giving anyone the opportunity to speak further with the jail, or even with Chief [Jailer Kirk] Fields, about fleshing out the facts."

Fields was called as a witness during the hearing, and said he was unaware of any punishment against Johnson prior to the court order. He also said he found out about the song from news stories about it. The jail then conducted an investigation, he said, and restricted the person who recorded the call's access to Johnson — but did not remove all of Johnson's contact with friends and family.

Related: Man accused in Young Dolph killing concerned with safety in jail, requests transfer

When Evans asked what policy the recording violated, Fields said it did not actually violate the jail's policies, and that there were "a few people" who also recorded something from inside the jail and released it publicly.

"I can't say it violates the policy," Fields said in court Friday, "but it violates the potential safety of Mr. Johnson based on the allegations, and that he's in jail."

Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman, and Fields, said the song's released from inside the jail presented a security risk to Johnson. Coffee, in his denial, said the audio could compromise the integrity of the court case — which is why he said he has not listened to it, or looked for it.

"I have not seen this video, and will not see this video," Coffee said. "But talk to Mr. Evans and he is saying Judge Coffee has pre-judged this case — and nothing could be further from the truth. I know nothing about this case. I purposely avoided the press, the media and newspaper when a case is in these courts. I do not do an investigation on cases. People kept asking me, 'Have you heard this tape?' No I haven't heard it. I don't want to listen to it. It isn't proper for me to listen to it."

Johnson was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in Indiana in January 2022, after police in Memphis said he was involved in the shooting that killed Young Dolph — born Adolph Thornton Jr. — inside Makeda's Homemade Butter Cookies on Airways Boulevard on Nov. 17, 2021.

The indictment for Johnson, along with the three other men included in the case, said the conspiracy to kill Young Dolph began on June 1, 2021.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Shelby Co. Judge Lee V. Coffee won't recuse from Young Dolph case