Meek Mill’s legal team wants judge removed from case once and for all
Meek Mill’s legal team wants Judge Genece Brinkley removed from his case once and for all, and last week filed paperwork asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to make it happen, reports the Philly Tribune.
Mill’s lawyers have tried to get the rapper’s original conviction overturned to no avail by Brinkley. But they provided enough evidence to the PA Supreme Court to prove that a corrupt cop’s involvement was damaging enough to get Mill released from prison after Brinkley sent him back for technical violations.
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Mills, whose real name is Robert Williams, and his team wanted Brinkley to step down, but she won’t budge. Now they are taking the issue up with the Supreme Court, arguing that Brinkley is acting “like a prosecutor, not a judge” in Mill’s case.
“Rather than honor this Court’s restrained suggestion, Judge Brinkley doubled down—for instance, making comments through her lawyer on Mr. [Robert] Williams’ pending motions and going so far as to say to the media through her lawyer that she ‘knows Meek’s case inside and out, and the Supreme Court Justices do not,’” the document reads.
Mill’s legal team also contend that Brinkley “lacks impartiality” as well as criticized how the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office was handling Mill’s situation. They said she also laughed at local lawyer Bradley Bridge’s testimony.
The case
Meek Mill, whose real name Robert Rihmeek Williams, had been in jail for five months after his latest probation violation. Meek was arrested twice in 2017 after years of having his probation on a 2007 gun charge extended due to multiple violations.
His first 2017 arrest was for a fight at an airport in St. Louis and the second came after he was seen on video doing dirt-bike stunts on the streets of Manhattan. He also tested positive for Percocet, violating the terms of his probation.
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On Nov. 7, 2017, Judge Brinkley said that Meek had repeatedly “thumbed his nose” at the court.
Meek begged for mercy, saying he did not intend to disrespect the court’s orders. Brinkley sent the rapper to prison for two to four years, against the recommendation of the assistant district attorney and Meek’s probation officer. They both recommended that he not be incarcerated.
The sentence set off a nationwide firestorm surrounding criminal justice reform and spawned a movement that led to #FreeMeekMill becoming a hashtag and rallying cry around Philadelphia.
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