A federal judge cited reports that rapper Lil Dark ordered him to stay behind the bar awaiting trial on murder charges, and violated prison rules by using other inmates’ phone accounts.
During a bail review hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Donohue said the Devontay bank rapper showed “rule rudeness” by using telephone accounts of 13 other inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in LA.
Bank lawyer Drew Findling argued that other inmates did the same, saying the defense team “doesn’t consider it a problem” that would prevent him from releasing. He also told the judge that Banks, who was wearing a white prayer hat, was violated “in his Muslim faith.”
Banks, 32, is accused of ordering the murder of Georgian rapper Taikianbowman, known as Quandrond, whose cousin was killed in a failed ambush near the Beverly Center Mall in Los Angeles in 2022.
Last week, prosecutors filed accusations obtained, adding a stalker that led to death charges. The indictment removed previous references to lyrics that the bank said had previously been used to commercialize shooting deaths.
Prosecutors previously said the bank had been hanging about his revenge of “no, no!” “with music that explicitly refers to audio from news clips.” After seeing his cousin’s body.
At a detention hearing in December, Findling told the court that the song referenced by the prosecutor was recorded eight months before the shooting.
At Thursday’s hearing, Findling focused on removing these lyrics from the indictment, calling his client “moneyed and celebrated death at the heart of this case” and “certainly false.”
“This murder is not about the defendant’s lyrics, not about his music. It’s about his actions,” Ian Yaniero told the judge.
Yanniello said the defense team was unable to provide new information that undermines the judge’s first December ruling that the bank would be detained. Referring to the prison call, Yaniero said the bank “does not follow the rules.”
Findling repeatedly called his allegations against his client “sweeping generalizations.”
“If you’re trying to argue the danger, you’ll have to have some details,” Findling told the judge.
Findling said it was willing to hire 24-hour security to ensure compliance with conditions imposed by the court, but the judge questioned whether security guards were willing to report who would pay them.
After the hearing, Findling said the lawsuit against his client “everything comes down to one from the text message from context.”
“I feel that a 32-year-old man with no record should have the right to spend time outside of prison where he can spend time with his family and colleagues,” he said.
The bank’s trial is scheduled to begin on October 14th.
Source link
