After being released on bail in April, the “Stay Woke” rapper and his team have remained diligent in overturning his 2008 conviction for possessing a firearm and drugs. However, that legal battle just hit a roadblock.
According to Philly.com, Judge Genece E. Brinkley denied the 31-year-old artist’s “petition for relief” from the case that has placed him on probation for over a decade now (he was initially given eight years probation when he was sentenced by Brinkley in 2008). The reason for Meek’s plea stems back to a bombshell report that claims the officer responsible for his detainment was a corrupt official.
Part of Judge Brinkley’s basis for the denial stems from her disapproval of the District Attorney’s Office’s investigation into former officer Reginald Graham. Therefore, the DA’s probe failed to back up claims that Graham “lacked credibility,” according to the news site. Meek, born Robert Rihmeek Williams, and his legal team utilized the extensive report on Graham’s behavior to show the court if this information was present during Williams’ first arrest, the outcome of his fate in the criminal justice system might’ve been different.
In a statement made by the rapper’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, the legal team remains unsurprised by Judge Brinkley’s ruling. “Despite the agreement of the District Attorney’s office on the need for a new trial and the granting of new trials to other identically situated defendants, Judge Brinkley made clear during the hearing on June 18th that she had already decided the matter.”