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Rapper NBA YoungBoy now has a trial date for his federal firearms case, and new confidence in how he and his team will handle proceedings after a ruling by the judge in his favor.
According to reporting from Rolling Stone, the date for Young Boy Never Broke Again’s trial is set for May 16th after an appearance in a Baton Rouge, Louisiana federal court on Monday (March 7th). The news comes a week after the rapper, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, and his defense team received a ruling in their favor from U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick. The judge ruled that video evidence presented by the prosecution allegedly showing the rapper in possession of one or more firearms that was retrieved during a search on SD memory cards came as the result of an improper search. The charge is related to an incident where YoungBoy was arrested on September 28h, 2020 at a music video shoot along with 16 other people outside of his grandfather’s home in Baton Rouge. He pleaded not guilty to the charge that he was a felon in possession of an unregistered Masterpiece Arms 9 mm and a .45 caliber Glock Model 21 pistol.
Claiming the warrant was “invalid on its face”, the judge also said the warrant was invalid due to “misleading information” regarding when the authorities were informed about a group of people brandishing firearms while filming the video on September 28th. It was later found that police got word from a “reliable source” the day before. “The whole truth would have included that the tip about the rap video came in on September 27th — not September 28th — which would have negated probable cause to search the SD cards and camera for evidence of who possessed firearms or narcotics on September 28th,” Judge Dick stated in the ruling.
The news bolstered the defense team for the rapper. “We’re 100 percent convinced of his innocence, and now we have to continue to evaluate our strategy,” defense lawyer Drew Findling said to Rolling Stone when contacted. “The unconstitutionality of law enforcement was clearly evident to the court and resulted in a slew of evidence being thrown out. We’re looking forward to going to court.” Gaulden is currently on pre-trial house arrest since October 2021, when he was released from jail after another gun charge was brought against him.
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