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Meek Mill’s conviction in a drug and gun case has been overturned, and it appears the entire case may be thrown out altogether.
On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned the Philly native’s conviction that had kept the rapper on probation for a decade. His personal journey through the country’s corrupted criminal system, along with his celebrity status, has given him the platform to highlight racism, police brutality and other calculated issues within the government.
The decision to throw Mill’s conviction came after a unanimous three-judge vote.
“We conclude the after-discovered evidence is of such a strong nature and character that a different verdict will likely result at a retrial,” the opinion said. The Pennsylvania Superior Court also threw out the trial judge’s parole violation findings that sent Mill’s back to prison again in 2017 for five months, CBS News reports. Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley ordered Mill to be on probation for 10 years over his arrest in 2007 when he was 19. After that, the rapper was in and out of the courtroom for committing technical violations of his parole. Some of those violations included traveling.
When the rapper was sent to prison in 2017, his story became a spearhead for social justice and criminal justice reform. “The past 11 years have been mentally and emotionally challenging, but I’m ecstatic that justice prevailed,” he said in a statement after the court’s decision. During an interview with #GayleKing on CBS This Morning, the rapper explained the difficulties he faced while under probation. “Even if it’s to the next county over,” Mill told King. “If it’s out of the city, if you don’t ask for permission, you could get the rest of your probation time given to you as jail time legally.”
He added that he couldn’t even pick up his son from school without it being reported. “I would just want to pop up at my son’s school and get him from school. I’d been out of town for two weeks in a row workin’. Can’t really do it,” Mill told King. According to CBS News, prosecutors are deciding whether or not they plan to retry the case. In court last week, Assistant District Attorney Paul George said the office wouldn’t call Graham due it its “legal, ethical and constitutional obligations.”
