The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office suggests the rapper's conviction could be reversed after a list of city officers with credibility problems was found.
- Mar 15, 2018
AceShowbiz - Meek Mill could be released soon after serving five months in jail. The rapper, who was given two to four years in prison for violating his probation in a 2008 gun and drugs case, could have his conviction reversed in the wake of a list of city officers with a history of lying, racial bias and/or brutality being discovered.
Officer Reginald Graham, who arrested Mill and testified at his trial, was included on the list. In a statement released on Wednesday, March 14, District Attorney Larry Krasner declared it would not oppose Mill's immediate release on bail.
Krasner, who took office in January, also said that his office did not know that there was a list of cops with credibility problems because the previous district attorney kept it secret, nor that the list included the name of Officer Graham.
"As Officer Graham was the only witness called at trial and was the affiant on a search warrant which produced evidence against (Mill), his veracity is essential to the Commonwealth's prosecution in this matter," Krasner said.
He added, "In the event (Mill's) conviction is reversed (in whole or in part) as a result of post-conviction proceedings, the risk of an unjust or disproportionate sentence having been served exists. That risk increases as long as (Mill) remains in custody."
Krasner said, "Obviously, the current District Attorney's Office and this Court are presented with new and important information relating to the integrity of the original conviction that this Court could not have known at trial or at any subsequent violation hearing because the prior District Attorney's Office did not provide it to (Mill) or to the Court."
Because hundreds of other convictions have already been reversed based on information provided by a whistleblowing cop, "there is a strong showing of likelihood of (Mill's) conviction being reversed (in whole or in part)," Krasner said. "Therefore the Commonwealth is unopposed to (Mill's) petition for bail."
Fellow celebrities and fans have protested Judge Genece Brinkley's "unjust" prison sentence in Mill's case. On Tuesday, his Kathy Williams held up his picture onstage at the "Reform: Bringing Injustice to Light" forum at the University of Pennsylvania, during which the rapper made a call from prison.
"I wanted to say that I appreciate all the love and the support from the people of Philadelphia and all over the world," he said after he called his lawyer Joe Tacopina. "I think it is about time Pennsylvania had some type of light shined on the system ... I am actually caught up in the system - it is not just myself but a bunch of other young men and older men, and it is kind of hard to get out of it. I have been on probation since I was 18 years old ... I am back in a state prison due to a few small minor mistakes."
He also said in a new interview with Rolling Stone, "I want to speak on this system and what it does to black people - on both f***ing sides of the fence."
