Lawyer for Defendant in YSL Case Says Client Was Assaulted by Georgia Deputy

A lawyer representing a defendant in the YSL RICO case says her client was assaulted by the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office’s Scorpion Unit this week.

Speaking with WSB-TV, as seen below, Angela D’Williams said that her client—identified as Rodalius Ryan—was injured during the alleged assault, which is said to have occurred during a court transport.

“My client said that he had been assaulted by the Scorpion Unit,” D’Williams said. “They alleged that he spit on somebody.”

According to D’Williams, however, this was a misunderstanding of her client merely being upset, not spitting.

“They took that as him spitting,” she said. “And then, he said, when they told him to get out of the van, they just grabbed him before he had a chance by his legs, dragged him out, his head hit the van on the floor, and they dragged him out some more and he actually hit the sidewalk.”

Ryan, per D’Williams, suffered scrapes on his legs, cuts on his hands, and a knot on his forehead. Moving forward, a formal complaint will be filed against the unit. As D’Williams explained in further comments, this division of the county law enforcement agency has been intentionally “agitating” her client, only to then act like “they don’t know what’s going on” when he displays this agitation in a court setting.

Fulton County, meanwhile, has claimed that Ryan spit on a deputy during the transport on Monday. As outlined above, however, D’Williams has said that her client was upset at the time, with his emotions state being allegedly equated with spitting by law enforcement officials.

Complex has reached out to Williams’ office for comment. This story may be updated.

Per online jail records, Ryan had charges added on Monday including simple battery and willful obstruction of law enforcement officers. Earlier this month, he was charged with unauthorized possession of a prohibited item by inmate. In the original YSL indictment, Ryan—who was separately given a life sentence in connection with a 2019 murder—was accused of a RICO Act violation.