PHILADELPHIA (CelebrityAccess) — Rapper Meek Mill just suffered a legal blow after the Philadelphia judge who sentenced him to prison over a parole violation rejected a request to reconsider her decision and recuse herself from the case.
Common Pleas Court Judge Genece E. Brinkley, in a 48-page opinion filed Thursday, wrote that she had not committed an error when she did not recuse herself in the case. She also found that there was sufficient evidence to indicate that Mill had violated the terms of his probation and that his sentence was in line with his offense, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Brinkley had sentenced Mill to two to four years in prison after he violated the terms of a probation agreement stemming from a 2007 drug and weapons charge. However, attorneys for Mill had argued Brinkley should have recused herself from the case after, they allege, she requested in a private 2016 meeting with Mill that he record a cover of a Boyz II Men ballad called “On Bended Knee” and include “shout-out” to the judge.
Judge Brinkley wrote in her ruling that the claim had no basis in reality and that there was zero evidence to support the allegation.
“There is zero evidence to support this claim,” the judge wrote, per the Inquirer. “There is no record of such a conversation ever taking place and thus no evidence to support this claim.”
Brinkley went on to note the evidence to support her ruling that Mill had violated probation after Mill reportedly tested positive for opiates and was arrested twice in 2017, including in both St. Louis and New York.
“The court has repeatedly told defendant that he cannot demand special treatment just because he has chosen to be an entertainer,” Brinkley wrote.
In a statement to the Inquirer, one of Mill’s lawyers Joe Tacopina, continued to assert his view that Brinkley was engaged in a personal vendetta against Mill.
“In spite of the recommendations from the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, which was supported by Governor Tom Wolf, the judge continues to stand alone in supporting Officer Reginald Graham’s perjured testimony as well as his criminal behavior that has been documented. Fortunately, we have already filed petitions with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to secure his release and we remain hopeful that the court will right this injustice very soon,” Tacopina told the newspaper.
