Crime and Justice
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Jay-Z was named in a civil lawsuit brought against Sean “Diddy” Combs and was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl while attending a music industry afterparty back in 2000. Jay-Z has since filed to have the lawsuit case dismissed, citing that the attorney representing Jane Doe in the matter is attempting a financial shakedown and is asking that the identity of Doe be revealed.
In a new report from Page Six, Jay-Z, 55, has filed documents in court that took aim at Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee and levies a claim of his own that the lawsuit was an attempt to force the rapper and entrepreneur to pay a large sum of cash to make it all go away.
“That campaign was cynical and calculated to force payment of an exorbitant sum of money—Defendant would have to pay X millions of dollars irrespective of the truth, or else,” a portion of the doc said, which was obtained by the outlet.
“When Defendant refused to pay and instead took measures to establish his innocence, this unnamed Plaintiff and her self-promoting counsel (whose name has been splashed across headlines and press conferences under auspices of representing her) went to extraordinary lengths to shut down fair defense,” the doc continues.
“These claims are not about justice for victims. Nor are they about giving victims of sexual violence a voice. Instead, they are merely the next chapter in Attorney [Tony] Buzbee’s sprawling extortion saga—a saga whose aim is base and measured in dollars,” the doc also adds.
Jay-Z’s side wants the judge in the matter to reveal the name of Jane Doe to the public, stating that the accuser’s legal team has not provided sufficient evidence to justify the anonymity.
Buzbee, Doe’s attorney, gave a statement to Page Six regarding the matter.
“Sending a basic litigation demand letter and then filing a lawsuit isn’t extortion or blackmail. That’s the legal practice.
Buzbee added that his side “won’t get bogged down in a silly sideshow that tries to make the lawyers the focus of what are very serious allegations brought by a courageous woman.”
In the court of public opinion, reactions to the lawsuit claims have grown legs, with some already announcing Jay-Z is guilty as charged before the matter has been heard. Others, such as 50 Cent, have taken to social media to take shots. Others are saying that as more details emerge, the truth will be revealed in an attempt to show grace.
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Conor McGregor, a professional combat sports fighter and entrepreneur, has faced several legal issues throughout his career, and the latest matter has a new development. The Irish MMA star was ordered to pay a woman $250,000 in a civil suit after she accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her.
As reported by The Guardian, Conor McGregor, 36, was in Ireland’s high court last Friday (November 22) to hear the judgment regarding the civil rape and sexual assault case. Nikita Hand, the woman accusing McGregor, said that the former UFC champion raped her in a hotel in Dublin in December 2018.
Hand said she came across McGregor and invited him to a Christmas party at her place of work to join her and a friend. Hand also said that James Lawrence was also an attendee of the party and sexually assaulted her as well although the jury found no evidence backing the claim. Hand spoke to a throng of reporters outside the courthouse after the verdict was read and thanked her supporters and loved ones.
In a series of now-deleted replies on the X platform, McGregor lashed out at Hand, calling her a “vicious liar” and springboarded upon Lawrence being cleared of charges as an attempt to exonerate himself.
“Two men falsely accused One vindicated, the other soon to be,” McGregor wrote last Saturday. “Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE!”
Conor McGregor has vowed to seek an appeal and have the case overturned.
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Jonathan Majors earned a bittersweet legal victory after a conviction in 2023 upended the once-popular actor’s momentum and cost him the role of a lifetime. Grace Jabbari, the ex-girlfriend of Jonathan Majors, has now dropped her assault and defamation lawsuit against him which has fans on X wondering if Kang will make a comeback in the MCU.
Jonathan Majors, 35, was found guilty of one count of reckless assault in the 3rd degree and one charge of harassment as a violation. Majors was acquitted of a charge of assault and another charge of aggravated harassment. Grace Jabbari, 31, accused Majors of physical assault and abuse after an incident in March of 2023 found the former couple at odds. Several accounts of the allegedly violent exchange were revealed before Majors’ conviction with the courts eventually siding with Jabbari although some charges did not stick.
Now with Jabbari dropping the assault and defamation lawsuit, observers are wondering if the larger public owes Majors an apology and if the role of Kang The Conqueror within the Marvel Cinematic Universe should still be his. It should be noted that Majors’ conviction from the incident still stands and Jabbari has not publicly claimed that the acts connected to the case didn’t happen.
Majors is already signed up for new films, with a role in the upcoming thriller Merciless from director Martin Villeneuve. Majors will also appear in the 2025 film, Magazine Dreams.
Jonathan Majors has maintained his innocence regarding the assault allegations and says he wants to continue his work as an actor.
[h/t Deadline]
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Jussie Smollett‘s holiday season is off to a fine start. The former Empire star’s conviction for attacking himself back in 2019 has been overturned.
The Illinois State Supreme Court has overturned Jussie Smollett’s conviction for lying about a hate crime.
His case will be dismissed.
“We hold that a second prosecution under these circumstances is a due process violation, and we therefore reverse defendant’s conviction.” pic.twitter.com/Z6RohP8KJK
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) November 21, 2024
On Thursday (Nov. 21), the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Smollett should never have been prosecuted for a second time. The initial charges against him had been dropped after a sort of plea deal with the DA.
Smollett was charged with filing a false police report after he had claimed that he was the victim of a homophobic and racist attack. Soon after the story made headlines, his alleged tale started falling apart with the attackers (two brothers) coming forward to say that they had actually been hired by the actor to perform the hoax for a smooth $3,500. Nevertheless, a dismissal was negotiated with the Cook County state’s attorney.
However, a special prosecutor revived the case, and a grand jury restored charges that included disorderly conduct and lying to the police. Smollett continued to insist that he was innocent throughout the trial but he was eventually convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021.
Although Smollett was sentenced to about five months in jail, he only served six days and was released pending appeal. Now, he’s in the clear.
While Smollett entered a rehab facility in late 2023, most recently he wrote and produced a new film called The Lost Holliday which he also starred in. Peep social media reactions, MAGA is big mad, again, to Smollett’s latest news in the gallery.
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Malcolm X, the civil rights leader who later transformed into a global activist, was assassinated in 1965 just as his messages for human rights began to resonate with the wider public. The family of Malcolm X has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the United States government, alleging its involvement in his passing.
As reported late last week by ABC News, civil rights attorney Ben Crump was flanked by members of Malcolm X’s family and announced the $100 million lawsuit while addressing a media gathering in New York where the leader was gunned down.
According to Ilyasah Shabazz, the daughter of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), said that the family and their legal team have uncovered damning evidence that connects the NYPD and FBI worked in concert to kill her father.
“We fought primarily for our mother, who was here,” Ms. Shabazz said referencing the late Betty Shabazz while speaking at the site of the former Audubon Ballroom. “My mother was pregnant when she came here to see her husband speak, someone who she just admired totally and to witness this horrific assassination of her husband.”
Crump added in his statements to the press that the lawsuit targets an alleged scheme from the authorities to keep the truth of X’s death under wraps. In the lawsuit, a witness by the name of Mustafa Hassan claims that when he and others tried to stop the individuals who carried out the assassination, NYPD officers intervened to allegedly help the suspects escape. Hassan was reportedly never questioned by investigators on the scene despite him giving an account of the incident.
Further, the family’s legal team says it has two affidavits from a pair of X’s bodyguards who claim they were jailed by an undercover NYPD officer one week before the slaying was carried out and were kept from X’s side to guarantee the job would be done.
The FBI and NYPD have declined to comment on the lawsuit according to the outlet.
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Diddy has just received his first piece of good news in a long time. A judge has ruled that prosecutors can’t use materials seized from his jail cell.
As spotted on Deadline, the now embattled mogul might be feeling more confident heading into his upcoming bail hearing. On Tuesday (November 19), Judge Arun Subramanian denied the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District the ability to leverage any information seized from an October raid in Diddy’s jail cell. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams submitted a filing last week alleging that the Bad Boy Entertainment founder had written notes detailing plans to “blackmail” witnesses, make unauthorized calls, and more.
“While attempting to evade law enforcement monitoring, the defendant has, among other things, orchestrated social media campaigns that are, in his own words, aimed at tainting the jury pool; made efforts to publicly leak materials he views as helpful to his case; and contacted witnesses through third parties,” the memo read.
Additionally, prosecutors also submitted a transcript of a call Diddy made to one of his sons that shows “the defendant’s goal is to blackmail victims and witnesses either into silence or providing testimony helpful to his defense.”
Some of the items seized in the raid include “intact pages from two different legal pads, (ii) pages of an address book, (iii) a ripped-out, folded-over page of a third legal pad, (iv) a ripped-out page of another legal pad and (v) a ripped-out page of yet a different legal pad.”
Diddy’s legal team pushed back citing the raid violated several of their client’s Amendments rights. Diddy’s third bail hearing is scheduled for November 22. He has previously offered a $50 million bond and agreed to only be in contact with his family and legal team.
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Lil Durk has entered a not guilty plea in his murder-for-hire case in California this week, setting the stage for an upcoming trial that has been set for the top of next year. Lil Durk is accused of ordering members of his OTF (Only The Family) collective to carry out a revenge killing in response to the shooting death of King Von.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Lil Durk, 32, was in a Los Angeles court on Thursday (November 14) for his arraignment in connection to the death of a family member of rival Quando Rondo. One of Rondo’s associates shot and killed Dayvon “King Von” Bennett in 2020 during an altercation in Atlanta, Ga.
Durk was initially arrested three weeks ago near a Miami airport where he was allegedly attempting to leave the country on a flight bound for Italy and according to reports, Durk was booked for three international flights on private airplanes.
The Tribune adds in its reporting that Durk is being held in a federal prison in California and prosecutors want him to remain jailed until his trial, which is set for January 7, 2025. The prosecutors in the case are stating that Durk is a potential flight risk and a danger to the community.
Lil Durk is accused of allegedly putting five OTF members on the task of taking out Quando Rondo after rapper Timothy “Lul Tim” Leeks shot and killed King Von. Charges against Lul Tim were later dropped according to Georgia’s “stand-your-ground” laws.
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PnB Rock was tragically shot and killed during a robbery while dining inside a Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles restaurant, leading to the arrest and conviction of Freddie Lee Trone to 31 years in prison. New footage of the incident has emerged and it suggests that PnB Rock was set up by a pair of patrons who presumably tipped off Trone and his teen son who carried out the robbery and shooting.
YouTube channel True Crime News shared a video featuring footage of the fateful day when PnB Rock, real name Rakim Hasheem Allen, and his fiancée Stephanie Sibounheuang visited Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in South Central Los Angeles in September 2022.
True Crime News host Ana Garcia is heard explaining the happenings in the surveillance footage, which shows a person greeting Allen while outside footage shows two people allegedly planning the crime. Trone’s son arrived by car and fired three shots at Allen with restaurant workers, a security guard, and guests vacating the establishment.
The bodycam footage obtained from police showed the vantage point of officers who responded to the scene of the crime, with detectives asking Sibounheuang about the shooting. At that time, Sibounheuang is informed that her fiancée did not survive the gunshot wounds.
Sibounheuang absorbed blame for the incident after she posted on her Instagram Story feed that she was at the restaurant, including showing the location via geotag.
Some observers believed she was the reason the robbers were able to corner Allen. However, Garcia shared that according to the timing of the planning going on outside of the robbery and Sibounheuang’s Instagram post do not match up. The plot was hashed out well before she shared the location, thus effectively clearing her of any blame according to the True Crime News findings.
We will share a link to True Crime News‘ report but will not embed the video in the body of this post due to the disturbing details within. However, clicking here will lead you to the story but please proceed cautiously.
PnB Rock was 30.
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Lil Durk and his ongoing legal woes that led to his arrest are mounting after new information provided additional details connected to an alleged murder-for-hire plot. With the Chicago rapper already facing serious charges, two additional charges were handed down as Lil Durk awaits his fate.
In a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California last Friday (November 8), it was revealed that Lil Durk, 32, will face two additional charges connected to the brazen 2022 shooting at the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles.
From the Justice Department’s public relations hub:
Durk Banks, 32, a.k.a. “Lil Durk,” “Blood,” and “Mustafa Abdul Malak,” of Chicago, is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, and one count of using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.
The indictment adds two felony charges against Banks, who previously was charged via criminal complaint in this case.
The four-count superseding indictment, returned late Thursday, adds Banks as the lead defendant to a previous indictment returned October 17 and charging the following defendants in connection with the August 2022 murder:
The other defendants named in the press release were Kavon London Grant, 28, a.k.a. “Cuz” and “Vonnie,” of Atlanta, Deandre Dontrell Wilson, 33, a.k.a. “DeDe,” of Chicago, Keith Jones, 33, a.k.a. “Flacka,” of Gary, Indiana; David Brian Lindsey, 33, a.k.a. “Browneyez,” of Addison, Illinois; and Asa Houston, 36, a.k.a. “Boogie,” of Chicago.
Lil Durk was arrested while reportedly looking to leave the country on October 17 near Miami International Airport. He was ordered jailed without bond until his transfer to Los Angeles for arraignment. He was charged in the 2022 shooting death of rival Quando Rondo’s cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, aka Lul Pab, in retaliation for the 2020 death of King Von in Atlanta.
Durk and his co-defendants have not entered any pleas.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs has employed his legal team to file an appeal to his recent bond denial after being denied twice so far. In a new report, Diddy and his team once more introduced the restrictions and guidelines the business mogul will follow as he awaits his day in court.
TMZ reports that Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team once more reiterated that the $50,000 bail was set with several restrictions, including not allowing women to visit Combs at his Star Island home in Florida and keeping a visitor’s log among other guidelines.
As TMZ noted in its report, this is Combs’ third attempt to be released on bond. Adding to the restrictions, Combs’ lawyers are attempting to assure the court that their client will not be a flight risk and is attempting to sell off his private plane to boot.
Combs is currently housed in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a prison facility that has garnered a reputation for being unsafe and replete with issues. While Diddy himself has not made any public comments related to his stay at MDC, there have been reports that the Bad Boy Records honcho was under heavy surveillance to prevent self-harm.
While the appeal has been filed, it has not been reported when it will be officially presided over.
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