Meek Mill Retrial Decision Rescheduled To Later This Month
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) - A decision on whether rapper Meek Mill will be retried in a drug and gun case has been delayed until later this month. The 32-year-old Philadelphia native attended a hearing Tuesday morning at the Criminal Justice Center in Center City to discuss the next steps in his case.
Eyewitness News was there as Meek arrived for the hearing just before 9 a.m.
Last month, the Pennsylvania Superior Court tossed out Meek's decade-old drug and gun conviction.
This is a big deal for the rapper who has been on probation for almost a decade now. Meek has been trying to get a 2008 conviction stemming from drug and weapon charges tossed out. The state Superior Court ruled last month that the conviction should be tossed out based on evidence that lawyers say undermines the credibility of the officer who testified against Mill at his trial.
Now, the judge has said it is possible a different verdict will result at a new trial. City prosecutors also backed Meek's bid for retrial citing bias from Philadelphia Judge Genece Brinkley who sent the rapper to jail for minor probation violations. Brinkley has since denied those allegations.
The whole process has turned Meek into a celebrity for criminal justice reform.
"The work I want to do is actually make a smart probation and parole act where you can gain your life back, get your life back on track, not just be caught up in a loop and going in and out of the system," Meek told "CBS This Morning's" Gayle King last month.
It's unclear if the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will retry his case. If they do, it will be before a different judge.
CBS3's Crystal Cranmore contributed to this report.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
