PHILADELPHIA (CelebrityAccess) –Rapper Meek Mill went to court on Tuesday, seeking a new trial and while a decision wasn’t immediately rendered during the hearing, there were some positive signs for Mill’s prospects in the case.
According to the Philadelphia Tribune, the attorney for Mill, and the attorney representing the Commonwealth, both agreed that the Philadelphia-born rapper should receive a new trial for his conviction which was predicated on one now-discredited witness.
Mill, whose real name is Robert Rameek Williams was arrested in 2007 on drug and gun charges, but the lone witness against Mill in the case has since been discredited. Reginald Graham, the officer who arrested, and who provided testimony against him during the trial, had stolen money in a drug bust two years prior to the arrest and lied to the FBI about it, the Tribune reported.
Graham claimed in the 2007 trial that Mill, who was then 19, pointed a gun at Graham during an arrest in South Philadelphia. Mill has since denied pointing a gun at police.
Defense attorney Kim Watterson argued that since Graham has been discredited, and as his testimony differs from Mill’s it should merit a new trial.
Mill and his attorneys did not speak with reporters after the hearing but Van Jones, Van Jones, CEO of the REFORM Alliance told the Tribune was upbeat about the results.
“We are one step closer to justice. This hearing was an extraordinary moment where you had attorneys on both sides saying that a new trial should go forward,” Jones told reporters. “Meek Mill should have never been convicted in the first place. He was convicted on the testimony of a disgraced and discredited police officer. That was made clear in this courtroom today.”
