Prosecutors are increasingly using rap lyrics as evidence of criminal wrong doing. BuzzFeed News talked to one San Diego rapper, Tiny Doo, whose case could set a new precedent.
Courtesy Brandon Duncan
When Brandon Duncan heard voices outside his front door at 4:30 a.m., he never imagined they belonged to a squad of heavily armed police officers getting ready to burst into his apartment.
It was June 19, 2014, and Duncan, along with girlfriend Myra Arauz, had fallen asleep on the couch in their San Diego apartment. The sun wasn't up yet when Duncan opened the door and found the cops waiting outside.
"They weren't ready," Duncan told BuzzFeed News.
Police quickly raised their rifles and stormed through the front door. They ordered Duncan and Arauz onto the ground, then led them both outside, handcuffed. Neither knew what was happening.
Over the next few hours, police grilled Duncan — who has no criminal record — in a foam-lined interrogation room. And he was shocked by what he discovered: He was facing nine felony conspiracy charges, each of which carried a potential sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
The possibility of spending the rest of his life behind bars now hangs over Duncan's head as he and his lawyers mount their latest effort to get the case dismissed during a hearing Monday in San Diego.
The hearing is just the latest development in Duncan's long, Kafkaesque nightmare that grew out of an unlikely source: His self-produced rap mixtape, "No Safety," which he released under the name Tiny Doo.
The charges against Duncan — and 15 co-defendants — stemmed from a series of gang shootings in the San Diego area in 2012 and 2013. But Duncan's case is unique because prosecutors don't believe he actually pulled the trigger, planned the shootings, or even knew about them.
Instead, prosecutors are, for the first time, using an obscure California law that makes it illegal to willfully promote or significantly benefit from gang crime. CAN WE PUT A SAMPLE OF THE LYRICS HERE??
California / Via leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
Duncan said he didn't make any money from "No Safety" — he had 100 copies professionally pressed on CD, but as is often the case for local musicians, the pressing costs were greater than what he made in sales. And in some cases, Duncan said he simply gave the record away to friends.
Duncan spent seven months behind bars because he couldn't afford his $500,000 bail.
Duncan's case represents a growing trend among prosecutors to use the work of aspiring rappers against them in court. It's also a trend steeped in race, and which has far-reaching impacts on how prosecutors can treat artistic expression.
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1AywzUG
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