Meek Mill denied second trial by Judge Brinkley as he "failed to meet his burden of proof"
Meek Mill is not going to get a new trial, as per Judge Genece Brinkley's latest ruling. Despite prosecutors trying to acknowledge that Meek deserves a second trial, Brinkley — who had originally made the controversial decision to put the rapper behind bars for two to four years, for violating probation back in November — shut down his motion on Monday.
Her stunning ruling said, "After an in-depth review of the record, court history, notes of testimony, and evidence submitted at the evidentiary hearing, this court hereby denies defendant's petition for PCRA relief as defendant failed to meet his burden of proof."
The news is rather shocking, especially after the DA repeatedly stated that Meek deserves a new trial as the very arresting officer who was the sole witness in Meek's 208 trial, is himself the center of a Philadelphia police corruption scandal.
In her ruling, the judge dismisses Graham's current standing of being a 'dirty cop' just because another guilty cop called him so. She also dismissed the fact that Graham failed a polygraph test about pocketing money. Brinkley also added that even if people believe that Graham is a corrupt cop, it still wouldn't make the jury change its verdict in 2008.
The PA Supreme Court had also released Meek on bail back in April from his prison sentence, pending hearing for the new trial. But even though Brinkley has been consistent, it's pretty evident that Meek's team will appeal this latest ruling.
“We are not at all surprised by Judge Brinkley‘s decision today. Despite the agreement of the District Attorney’s office on the need for a new trial, and the granting of new trials to other identically situated defendants, Judge Brinkley made clear during the hearing on June 18th that she had already decided the matter," Mill's attorney Joe Tacopina told USA Today.
"We continue to believe that this miscarriage of justice will be corrected upon further review and that the public’s confidence in the impartiality of the judicial system in Pennsylvania will be restored."
Back in February, Meek's attorneys had petitioned for a new trial in the rapper's now 10-year-old gun and drug convictions based on issues with the said Philadelphia cop, Reginald Graham who had played a role and testified in that trial back in 2007. But ever since the scandal circling him broke out, multiple convictions based on Graham's testimony were thrown out by another judge.
"We respect the independence of the judiciary and therefore do not have any public comment on the ruling at this time," said Ben Waxman, spokesman for the office of District Attorney Larry Krasner, in an email to USA Today.
As for Meek himself, he had served five months of his sentence before the state Supreme Court had released him on bond. Earlier this month, the court had also split on a request by him to have the case reassigned from Brinkley.