The proof in opposition to the three males standing trial for the 2018 homicide of XXXTentacion contains video proof, cellular phone proof, and social media posts the place they flash cash believed to have been robbed from the late rapper. However Mauricio Padilla, the legal professional for defendant Dedrick Williams, has implicated Toronto artist Drake as a potential perpetrator, citing lyrics and a 2018 submit on XXXTentacion’s IG story, which acknowledged, “if anybody kills me it was @champagnepapi…I’m snitching.” XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, later deleted the story and stated he was hacked, however Padilla has nonetheless included it in his protection.
Now, Drake, actual title Aubrey Graham, faces a court docket order to testify for a deposition (by way of Zoom) on February twenty fourth, and he’s topic to a contempt of court docket cost if he ignores it. On February ninth, Padilla petitioned Broward Nation Circuit Decide Michael Usan for an “order to indicate trigger” after Graham was served a subpoena however didn’t present as much as court docket on January twenty seventh. Through the trial’s opening arguments, Padilla acknowledged, “Earlier than X died, he stated, ‘If anyone kills me, it’s Drake.’ Do you assume, sitting right here years later, any detective has ever requested Drake or anyone like that? No.” He added. “This is likely one of the greatest celebrities on the planet. Excluding an order from this court docket, everyone knows that I’ll by no means be capable of take his deposition.” Padilla additionally cited the February 2018 Parkland, Florida capturing, implying that Broward County investigators had devoted so many sources to the varsity capturing that they didn’t correctly examine Onfroy’s homicide.
Lawyer (and former prosecutor) Neama Rahmani calls Padilla’s implication of Graham a “Hail Mary” try to muddy the waters for the jury. “It’s a really powerful case to defend,” Rahmani says, citing the barrage of proof in opposition to the three defendants. “So perhaps you discover a juror that believes in these kind of conspiracy theories. They want a unanimous jury. Possibly a few jurors purchase into this and you’ll hold the jury.” He provides that the Decide primarily has no selection however to permit the idea into court docket. “The decide is saying, ‘if that is their protection, although there’s no foundation the truth is, I’m not going to disclaim them their protection as a result of they’ve a proper as prison defendants to current proof that they assume will exonerate them. If I deny them that chance, that’s a possible appellate problem, and the decision could also be overturned.’”
Lawyer Steve Sadow says it’s a “good technique” for Padilla to lift affordable doubt. “Having the ability to say ‘another dude did it,’ that’s an enormous deal. He has a kernel of truth as a result of the decedent says, ‘If I’m killed, Drake did it.’ So it’s not as if it’s simply completely made up. He’s bought a little bit one thing there that he can use to assist his place, which is, to be trustworthy with you, much more than we now have more often than not.”
Graham was particularly known as for a pretrial discovery deposition, and Sadow notes that Florida is likely one of the few states that enables such depositions for prison instances (versus civil ones). The Atlanta-based legal professional, who most just lately represented rapper Gunna, says that “you could possibly by no means drive somebody to go underneath oath in a deposition in a Georgia prison case.” Each attorneys say that if Graham doesn’t present up, a Florida Decide has the grounds to advantageous him for each court docket date he misses and even problem a warrant making him topic to arrest if he enters the state. If Graham had an open warrant for contempt, he’d be put into the Nationwide Crime Data Laptop, a database that each state and federal legislation enforcement use to log excellent warrants.
“The warrant is nice for the state of Florida, however no different state goes to implement it until you go to the state the place Drake resides or he occurs to be in, and also you ask a decide in that state to additionally problem a warrant,” Rahmani says. “Let’s say he lives in California, and prosecutors go ask a California decide to problem an arrest warrant as a result of he hasn’t appeared in a Florida case. One, that’s going to take a very long time, and the case is ongoing. By the point you truly get that carried out and he’s arrested, it’s going to be too late. The second query: is California going to extradite?” Rahmani says that the extradition course of would come with Governors of each states and is so onerous that “it doesn’t occur” usually, particularly for a witness who isn’t truly charged with something.
Graham has by no means commented publicly about Onfroy or his loss of life, although some followers have speculated that he’s thrown subliminal pictures in his lyrics. Strains from his music “Nonstop” have been particularly known as into query, although the observe was launched a month earlier than Onfroy’s loss of life. “SMS, triple X / That’s the one time I ever shoot beneath the neck / Why you retain on shootin’ if you understand that nigga lifeless? / That’s the one sort of shit that will get you some respect.”
Graham grew to become a determine of Onfroy’s ire after he believed the Toronto artist stole his “Look At Me” stream on “KMT,” and known as him a “bitch” for the perceived theft in a March 2017 interview with Miami 103.7. He later tweeted a suggestive comment about Graham’s mom. In February of 2018, the preemptive warning was posted to Onfroy’s Instagram story. Nonetheless, he later stated he was hacked, apologized, and declared he had no need to “create any extra enemies.” After Onfroy’s loss of life, his good buddy Ski Masks The Stoop God posted an image of himself with Drake and captioned it, “[Drake] truly preferred Jahseh music loads.” Nonetheless, the boys weren’t in a position to publicly squash the controversy earlier than Onfroy’s loss of life.
Sadow says that if Graham truly testifies, he ought to accomplish that truthfully and never plead the fifth. “His place [should be that] ‘clearly this entire factor is nonsense. The truth that I’ve referenced one thing in a rap music or any sort of music has no that means in any respect to the fact of how this killing happened.’” Rahmani provides that Padilla referencing Graham’s lyrics in court docket paperwork continues a development of rap lyrics being taken actually and used as proof, which he says has a “chilling impact” on the style.
“Should you’re going to incorporate some lyrics in your music and behind your thoughts, you or your lawyer is saying, ‘Hey man, this can be used in opposition to you. Watch out what you say.’ I imply, it’s an issue,” Rahmani says, “It’s artwork. It’s nothing to do with [actual crimes]. And it’s used typically [for] crimes that occur years later that don’t have anything to do with the lyrics. In order that’s why the legal guidelines want to alter, and state legislatures want to alter the principles and say, ‘Hey, you’ll be able to’t do that.’”