Trial
Pras Michel Might Get Retrial After Promising Mid-Month Hearing
Pras Michel and his new legal team were in a mid-month hearing questioning the Fugee star's former attorney, David Kenner.
Megan Thee Stallion Delivers Tearful Testimony During Day 2 of Tory Lanez Trial: ‘I Wish He Had Just Shot & Killed Me’
Megan Thee Stallion appeared in Los Angeles court Tuesday (Dec. 13) on the second day of the closely-watched trial over whether Tory Lanez shot her in the foot on July 12, 2020. The rapper was met with a legion of her supporters at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, several of whom held a big, black “WE STAND WITH MEGAN” banner during a rally that was organized by non-profit The Gathering of Justice in conjunction with multiple women’s and violence prevention organizations. The Grammy winner arrived at the courthouse wearing a blunt shoulder bob and bold purple suit — a fitting color choice that symbolizes awareness of domestic violence, especially against women. Once on the stand, Stallion’s voice cracked after L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta, one of the pro...
Tory Lanez Allegedly Shot Megan Thee Stallion Because She ‘Insulted His Skills as a Musical Artist,’ Court Hears
Opening statements kicked off the highly anticipated trial over whether Tory Lanez shot Megan Thee Stallion in the foot two years ago. Los Angeles prosecutors hope to convict Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) of three felony charges over the July 12, 2020 incident, in which he allegedly shot Stallion in the foot during an argument after a pool party in the Hollywood Hills. In October 2020, he was charged with one count of assault with a firearm and another gun possession charge. On Dec. 6, 2022, just one week before the trial began, the L.A. district attorney’s office added a new, third count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence. If convicted on all three charges, Lanez faces 22 years in prison. Yet Lanez, 30, has maintained his innocence and looked poised to fight for it while ...
R. Kelly Back in Chicago For Sex Trial
R. Kelly has been returned to the federal jail in downtown Chicago ahead of his trial on child pornography and obstruction-of-justice charges, just two weeks after the disgraced R&B star was sentenced in New York to 30 years in prison for racketeering and sex trafficking. The 55-year-old Kelly was transferred Tuesday from the federal jail in Brooklyn to the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the Chicago Tribune reported. He was also held at the Chicago lockup after he was indicted on federal charges in Chicago and New York in 2019. Jury selection for his federal trial in Chicago is set to begin Aug. 15. Kelly was convicted in 2021 in New York on charges that he sexually abused young fans, including children, in a systematic scheme that prosecutors alleged went on for decades. He was sen...
How R. Kelly’s Sentence Could Impact Other Trials
R. Kelly could be in his 80s before the singer is free again, based on a 30-year prison term imposed this week by a New York federal judge for parlaying his fame to sexually abuse young fans, including some who were children. And if the 55-year-old loses at three related trials in coming months, he could be staring at decades more behind bars. That prospect, said one of his lawyers not involved in the New York trial, could lead Kelly to pursue a plea deal. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Here’s a look at the potential impact of Kelly’s lengthy prison term in New York on those other cases: What Is The Status Of The Cases? A federal trial in Chicago is slated to begin next, on Aug. 15. Chicago is Kelly’s hometown and where many of his acc...
Johnny Depp Completes Four Days on Stand, Says Defamation Trial Is His ‘Fight Back’
Actor Johnny Depp concluded a grueling four days on the witness stand Monday, telling jurors in a calm voice that he filed his libel lawsuit against his ex-wife because it was his best chance to reclaim his reputation, just hours after they heard audio clips of him berating his wife with coarse vulgarities. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “It was the only time I was able to fight back and use my own voice,” Depp said of his decision to sue Amber Heard for a 2018 op-ed piece in The Washington Post in which she refers to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” He continued to deny that he ever hit Heard, and accused her of hitting him and throwing items including paint cans and vodka bottles at him. And jurors heard an a...
Johnny Depp Testifies Ex- Amber Heard Attacked Him, He Never Hit Back
Actor Johnny Depp scoffed at the notion during court testimony Wednesday that his constant quarrels with ex-wife Amber Heard would ever prompt him to hit her, and insisted on cross-examination that her allegations devastated his career. “Violence isn’t necessary,” Depp said from the stand during his libel lawsuit against Heard, his second day of testimony. “Why would you hit someone to make them agree with you?” Heard has accused Depp of physically and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions before and during their brief marriage. The former “Pirates of the Caribbean” star sued after Heard, who is also an actor, made an indirect reference to those accusations in an op-ed piece she wrote for The Washington Post. Depp addressed Heard’s accusations in detail Wednesday. Heard has said th...
Johnny Depp Takes The Stand In Defamation Trial, Says Amber Heard ‘Grossly Embellished’ Abuse Claims
Over the course of six years, Amber Heard has reiterated accusations that ex-husband Johnny Depp had an alcohol and substance abuse problem that led to him beating her in fits of rage and stupor. Depp, taking the stand for the first time on Tuesday in a U.S. trial on whether Heard’s accusations amounted to defamation, claimed that his ex-wife “grossly embellished” his “quote unquote substance abuse” and that there’ve been “no moments where I would’ve been considered out of control.” Depp continued: “A lot of it is just plainly false. I think that it was an easy target for her to hit because once you’ve trusted somebody for a certain amount of years and told them all the secrets of your life, that information can of course be used against you.” Eleven jurors considered Depp’s testimony on t...
Juicy Smolliét aka Jussie Smollett Heads To Trial This Week In Alleged Attack Hoax Case
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Juicy Smolliét aka Jussie Smollett was initially cleared of any wrongdoing after charges of staging an attack were thrown out of court after his February 2019 arrest. On Monday (Nov. 29), jury selection has begun in the former Empire actor’s disorderly conduct case where he faces six felony counts. ABC 7 Chicago reports that Smollett’s trial takes place almost three years to the day he told the authorities that he was the victim of a violent attack near his Chicago home and hit with racist and homophobic verbal attacks. Prosecutors believe that the 39-year-old actor staged the attack based on accounts that two men were paid thousands to help Smollett arrange the attack. Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx’s office threw out the charges,...
R. Kelly Put On Suicide Watch After Conviction
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Cook County Department of Corrections / Cook County Department of Corrections If you’re an R. Kelly supporter than you need to put in extra prayer for your boy. The feds placed him under suicide watch after his recent guilty conviction. As spotted on Raw Story the disgraced crooner has been going through it since the conclusion of his federal trial in New York. According to attorney Steve Greenberg the U.S. Bureau of Prisons put the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer increase monitoring right after he was found guilty for sex crimes and racketeering. Greenberg did make it clear that the Chicago native has not expressed any desire to kill or injure himself but this approach is common practice in the federal prison system. The lawyer confirmed that the provision ...
Penniless Piper: R. Kelly Says He’s Broke Weeks Before Trial Starts
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: Cook County Department of Corrections / Cook County Department of Corrections The wack juice continues to be poured on R. Kelly. He now claims his finances are in shambles weeks away from a major trial starting. As spotted on Page Six the Pied Piper Of Pee-Pee is in a place far more sunken that any of his fans or haters have imagined. Earlier this week he appeared in Brooklyn federal court for a hearing. During the proceedings his lawyer revealed that The R is hurting financially. “His finances are depleted,” said Devereaux Cannick. “I ask the court to give him daily copies of the transcripts.” He also stated that the Chicago, Illinois native has gotten severely out of shape while behind bars. “We need measurements for appropriate attire for his tria...
AGF: Ohanaeze legal monitoring group on Nnamdi Kanu not necessary
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said the legal team formed by the umbrella group for Igbo people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, to monitor proceedings of the trial of leader of the prescribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, was not necessary. He, however, welcomed the Ohanaeze team, saying it was in line with the doctrine of the right of fair hearing rooted in Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution. Recall that the separatist leader was arrested in June 2021 outside the country. Kanu is facing charges bordering on treasonable felony instituted against him at the court in response to years of campaign for the independent Republic of Biafra through IPOB. He had been granted bail in April 2017 but jumped bail. After his re-arrest in June 202...
