By Chris Richburg
One day after performing and taking home a best Hip-Hop video honor at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, Lil Wayne appeared in a New York courtroom to answer for a 2007 arrest on his tour bus.
The 25-year-old New Orleans rapper, born Dwayne Carter, was arrested last summer after the bus was stopped by authorities who searched the vehicle and found a .40-caliber pistol.
He was later charged with one count of criminal possession of a weapon.
According to The New York Post, Carter was present today (September 8) for a pre-trial hearing on the case.
Officer Diane Hornung testified that she boarded the bus after Carter performed at a concert at the Beacon Theater in Manhattan on July 22, 2007, when she saw and smelled marijuana smoke that wafted from the bus’ open door.
About 15 people boarded the bus around 11:30 p.m. after the show, said Hornung, who added that authorities pulled the bus over about 14 blocks away from the Theater after it loaded up with passengers.
When asked why she got on the bus, Hornung testified that she smelled "marijuana and I saw someone peeking through the curtain (over one of the windows on the bus)."
Hornung later ordered everyone off the bus, after which she said she headed to the rear of the vehicle, opened a bathroom door and saw a man trying to flush a sandwich bag of marijuana down a toilet.
At that point, Hornung said she confiscated the bag.
The officer then testified that she saw Carter in a bedroom at the back of the bus, sitting on a bed in his underwear and trying to hide a bag.
As the rapper was getting dressed, Hornung said she looked in the bag and found a loaded .9mm handgun.
Despite Hornung’s account of event, Carter’s lawyer Stacey Richman, got the officer to admit that she didn’t see anyone smoking marijuana when she went on the tour bus.
Richman furthered her case by arguing that the charge against her client should be dismissed on account of an illegal search of the bus conducted by the police stopping and boarding the bus without probable cause.
Carter was not charged with marijuana possession in the ordeal.
The rapper, who is free on $70,000 bail, pleaded not guilty to illegal gun possession.
If convicted, Carter faces up to four years in prison.