It's hard to tell exactly what you mean from the first pic and your description so I cannot yet comment on whether to LST or not. As for the leaves, I wouldn't cut any leaves that are green, they are there to absorb light energy and convert to sugars by photosynthesis. My understanding is that if some of the leaves aren't getting enough light, the plant will canabalise nutrients from the unused leaves and they will go yellow/brown and die. Once the leaves are dead they can be removed. This is just my take as I personally wouldn't remove any leaves that are green.

Good luck! :thumbsup: