Lil Durk has requested that the judge and prosecutor in his murder-for-hire trial case be recused because they didn’t share important information about threats from his fanbase.
The rapper and his legal team have accused federal prosecutors of burying vital information, arguing that the government hid violent threats that were aimed at the court and the lead prosecutor for months.
According to Durk’s lawyers, prosecutors hid four graphic voicemails that were left for Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue on Feb. 22, with a person on them threatening to kill the judge and to burn the world down if Durk was found guilty.
The motion from the rapper’s team alleges that they didn’t learn about the voicemail until Oct. 1, even though the FBI initiated a full investigation shortly after it happened. Similarly, Durk’s lawyers allege that prosecutors kept quiet about a call on Apr. 28 when another person threatened to murder prosecutor Ian Yanniello, along with others who worked at the courthouse.
Since there was coordination between the court, FBI, and U.S. Marshals Service due to the threats, Durk believes he was robbed of the ability to challenge the judge’s neutrality, thus undermining every ruling that was issued while the threats were kept a secret.
“The integrity of criminal prosecutions depends on transparency and impartiality. Here, both were fatally compromised,” reads the motion, alleging the silence is a direct violation of Durk’s right to due process. “Because these violations strike at the core of due process and the constitutional guarantee of receiving fair hearings in front of an impartial decision-maker, dismissal is the only adequate remedy.”
Durk’s attorneys, who say that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California acted as victim, investigator, and prosecutor at the same time, want the indictment against him to be dismissed or for the case to be assigned to a judge who's outside of the district, based on the grounds that the fairness of the case has been compromised.
In October, the government requested for an anonymous jury based on the voicemails.
“Defendants’ supporters have already attempted to intimidate individuals connected to this case,” the request reads.
Durk, real name Durk Devontay Banks, is awaiting trial on murder-for-hire charges in connection with the fatal shooting of Saviay’a Robinson, rapper Quando Rondo’s cousin, in August 2022.