Defense attorneys in XXXtentacion’s murder trial are still trying to serve Drake a deposition subpoena properly, but their latest efforts were rebuffed.
The legal team sent process servers to the rapper’s Beverly Hills mansion to serve him on Feb. 14 but say they were “greeted by armed guards who refused to accept service” and “closed the colossal gate in the process server’s face.” The process server says they posted the subpoena, but the guards “literally” kicked the “subpoena down the long driveway” leading to the star’s mansion.
Process servers tried to serve @Drake with a subpoena at his Beverly Hills home on Valentine's Day. It didn't go well.
"Apparently, Drake’s staff believes that physically kicking the subpoena is a legally sound way of refusing service." pic.twitter.com/EpoHvIr35f
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) February 20, 2023
On Monday, Feb. 20, Drake’s lawyer, Bradford Cohen, moved for the court to strike an order to show cause requiring Drake to sit for a deposition.
Mauricio Padilla, a defense attorney for one of the three suspects–Dedrick Williams– wants Drake to sit for the depo because his client has suggested that Drake was involved in the late rapper’s death.
However, the claim is something prosecutors haven’t entertained. Still, Padilla has pushed the issue by referencing an alleged feud between Drake, who formally goes by Aubrey Graham, and XXXTentacion (real name Jahseh Onfroy), Rolling Stone reported.
Even though Drake’s attorneys filed to quash the subpoena, the judge ruled that the parties have to “work together to mutually agree to a time that was convenient to Mr. Graham, agree on parameters for topics discussed at deposition and even stated that he would consider sealing the deposition. The court explained the importance of balancing the rights of the defendants to investigate this first-degree murder case properly with Aubrey Drake Graham’s privacy issue.”
