Federal prosecutors are preparing to call 35 witnesses when Lil Durk goes on trial in Los Angeles, offering the clearest look yet at the size of the government’s presentation against the Chicago rapper.
Prosecutors disclosed during an August 13 pretrial hearing that they anticipate calling 35 witnesses, with roughly 20 described as substantive witnesses. The outlet also reported that 80 prospective jurors have been summoned as the August 20 trial approaches.
That witness count could become one of the biggest storylines of the Lil Durk trial. While the government has not publicly identified every person expected to testify, earlier filings indicate that multiple cooperating witnesses are expected to play a role in prosecutors’ case.
According to Courthouse News Service, prosecutors warned during an earlier dispute over grand jury material that releasing certain testimony could put cooperating witnesses who provided evidence against Durk at risk. The disclosure did not identify those witnesses or establish how many of the government’s planned 35 witnesses fall into that category.
The distinction matters. The disclosure of 35 planned government witnesses does not mean all 35 are cooperating insiders. That leaves prosecutors room to build their presentation through different types of testimony while the defense focuses heavily on who is speaking from personal knowledge and why.
The Lil Durk trial also took another major turn during Thursday’s hearing when the court addressed prosecutors’ attempt to use his music as evidence. According to Rolling Stone, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald ruled that prosecutors may introduce material from Durk’s “Pissed Me Off” song and music video during the trial.
At the hearing, prosecutors argued that “Pissed Me Off” “falls into heartland” of admission and characterized the song as a “call to arms” connected to retaliation after King Von’s death. Prosecutors also referenced a portion of the song in which Durk asks, “Why you actin’ like you support us?” while arguing that other language and imagery supported their theory of retaliation.
The government further argued that Durk had been “trolled” online about avenging Von and claimed a “slide” referenced in the music was later connected to the alleged attack. Prosecutors also suggested the defense would try to “muddy the waters” around how the jury should interpret the record. Durk’s defense has rejected that reading, arguing that “Pissed Me Off” addressed several losses in his life, including the 2021 killing of his brother, Dontay Banks.
Federal prosecutors accuse Durk, whose legal name is Durk Banks, of participating in a plot to kill rapper Quando Rondo, identified in federal records by his initials. Prosecutors allege the plot was retaliation for the November 2020 killing of King Von, whose legal name was Dayvon Bennett.
The alleged plan culminated on August 19, 2022, when gunmen followed Rondo and eventually opened fire near the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Rondo survived, but his cousin Saviay’a Robinson was killed. Federal prosecutors allege Durk financed the operation and that people connected to Only the Family traveled from Chicago to California before the shooting. Durk has denied wrongdoing, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The scope of the upcoming Lil Durk trial has already been narrowed. In July, Judge Fitzgerald granted a defense request to separate recently added racketeering-related allegations from the approaching Los Angeles trial. Those claims will be handled separately rather than being folded into the August proceedings.
With 35 government witnesses anticipated, multiple cooperating witnesses expected, and Durk’s own music now cleared for use as evidence, the Lil Durk trial is shaping up to be a fight not only over what happened in Los Angeles in August 2022, but over whose account of how and why it happened the jury ultimately believes.
