'Music videos referenced are not part of a RICO conspiracy but are entertainment,' attorneys for Kitchens said in the court filing obtained by ABC News. Price/Getty Images, FILE)Īttorneys for Kitchens argued in a motion for bond filed last week that the rapper didn't even write or perform some of the lyrics listed in the indictment. Gunna performs onstage at 'Samsung Galaxy + Billboard' during the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Waterloo Park, March 17, 2022, in Austin, Texas.

'But you want what they're proving to have a specific relationship. 'You do want to allow for judges and prosecutors and the legal system to be able to do their job, if people are committing these offenses, you don't want to take tools away from them,' Bailey, an attorney, said. Jamaal Bailey, who co-sponsored the bill, said that the legislation limits prosecutors from using rap lyrics in court as alleged evidence, unless a judge determines through 'rebuttable presumption' that there is 'clear and convincing evidence' that the lyric is has a 'factual nexus' linking it to an alleged crime. It is up for a vote in the state assembly. The use of rap lyrics in court was recently taken up in the New York Senate, where legislation backed by artists like Jay-Z and Meek Mill was passed last Wednesday, limiting prosecutors' use of rap lyrics as evidence. Young Thug performs during Gunna Presents New Album 'DS4EVER' Concert at The Masquerade in Atlanta, Jan. 'We put it as overt within the RICO count because we believe that's exactly what it is.' ABC News has reached out to the DA's office for further comment.ĪBC News has reached out to the DA's office for further comment. 'The First Amendment does not protect people from prosecutors using as evidence,' she said at a May 10 press conference when asked about First Amendment concerns. Willis defended including the lyrics in the indictment. 'YSL is an acronym for 'Young Slime Life' and it's a hybrid gang that operates here in Atlanta and it's an affiliate of the Bloods gang,' the Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, said in an interview last week with ABC affiliate in Atlanta WSB-TV.īut Willis also acknowledged that YSL is 'a business and a record label' - a point that Young Thug's father, Jeffrey Williams, Sr., made while defending his son in an interview with WSB-TV. Neilson added that in rap music 'the use of language is intentionally and knowingly very fluid.' And in this case, he pointed to the various meanings of YSL. without providing any context, either with the rest of the song, or with the genre itself,' Nielson said. 'Prosecutors in these cases routinely cherry pick lyrics. Prosecutors allege that the gang is responsible for three murders, including the 2015 killing of Donovan Thomas - an incident, that 'triggered' additional gang-related killings in the city, according to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. He was hit with additional drugs and weapons charges after law enforcement searched his home following his arrest. Young Thug was initially charged with two counts - conspiring to violate the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) act and participating in street gang activity, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News. Williams will be cleared,' Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel told ABC News. We will fight this case ethically, legally and zealously. Williams has committed no violation of law, whatsoever. The Grammy-winning Atlanta rapper is accused of various crimes, including theft and possession of illicit drugs with intent to distribute, but the reference to the rapper's lyrics among the alleged evidence is a sticking point for freedom of speech advocates, who argue that music is art and should be protected. The imprint is not named in the indictment. Two thugs tell how they turned a man out in jail reaction.YSL is also the name of the rapper's music label, 'Young Stoner Life,' which was established in 2016 as an imprint of the music label 300 Entertainment.

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