Meek Mill Granted Retrial Following Ongoing Legal Fight
There’s a victory for Meek Mill.
The Philadelphia rapper has been granted a new trial for a case that dates back 12 years, by a three-judge appeals court panel in Pennsylvania, NPR reports.
A police officer who was later found to have committed theft was the only witness to testify against the “Championships” rapper.
The judges made a unanimous decision in the rapper’s case. “The Commonwealth concedes a new trial is required,” the judges stated.
The decision was made in light of “after-discovered evidence” about the law enforcement officer’s conduct.
“We conclude the after-discovered evidence is of such a strong nature and character that a different verdict will likely result at a retrial,” the judges added and said that the denial of the rapper’s petition for a new trial was wrong of the lower court.
“I’d like to thank the Pennsylvania Superior Court for overturning my conviction and granting me a new trial,” Meek said, as quoted by his advocacy group, Reform Alliance. “The past 11 years have been mentally and emotionally challenging, but I’m glad that justice prevailed and my clean record has been restored.”
Ten years ago, Meek Mill was convicted for various drug and gun-related offenses and the case stems from that. The rapper was sentenced to serve 11.5 to 23 months in prison, in addition to a decade of probation.
In 2017, controversy transpired when a court sentenced the Philadelphia native up to four years in prison over violation of his parole. The rapper was released eventually in April of 2018 on bail.
The original trial for Mill included the only prosecution witness who was former Philadelphia police officer Reginald Graham. In February of 2018, Meek Mill garnered an appeal calling for a new trial, claiming that he was informed about “serious allegations of misconduct against former Officer Graham.”
On Wednesday, news broke that Meek Mill had partnered with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to launch his new record label, Dream Chasers Records.
