Troubled rapper NBA YoungBoy may have scored a small victory in his upcoming federal firearms case.
The court has agreed to suppress footage from the set of one of his music videos that shows him in possession of a gun.
The judge said the reason why she decided against allowing it is because the prosecution did not provide an “indication” that “the camera contained evidence of crimes.”
The Advocate reported that Louisiana native, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden has been accused of illegally possessing guns in Baton Rouge in September 2020 and in Los Angeles last March.
The federal weapons case is related to his Sept. 28, 2020, arrest on Chippewa Street. The artist, his team and his entourage (a total of 15 other people outside of him) were arrested during a video shoot without permit on a vacant lot.
After a Baton Rouge federal grand jury indicted him for possession of a firearm as a felon and possession of a firearm not registered to him in a federal database last March, his legal team moved to video of two guns found on the scene of the crime.
The rapper was caught brandishing a gun and prosecutors caught him in the act on video. A gun was also found in an Acura sport utility vehicle at the scene.
In addition to having the videos suppressed, the artist’s team wants the guns not allowed as evidence either.
In addition to having the videos suppressed, the artist’s team wants the guns not allowed as evidence either.
The Chief U.S. District Judge in Baton Rouge assigned to the case is Shelly Dick.
Dick gave a split decision on Thursday, Feb. 24 regarding what video footage can be played, what will not, what guns will be admissible as evidence and explained his reasoning why.
She said that the guns found on the scene had to be used as evidence in the case but agreed to suppress footage from the cameraman’s video camera that has the artist with the weapons … because … he was shooting a video and puts in to question ownership and use.
The judge said in a 48-page ruling, “when a camera is found at the scene of a suspected possession crime, but it is unknown which of several suspects possessed the contraband, is there probable cause to search the camera for photographic evidence of who possessed the contraband?”
She continued, “In this case, the question is narrowed because the … affidavit contains nothing to indicate that the camera contained evidence of crimes.”
“The mere fact that a camera was recovered at the scene of an arrest does not generate a ‘substantial probability that evidence of a crime will be on that camera,” Dick said about the decision. “Additionally, without an allegation that the camera was in use when the alleged crimes occurred, the assertion that the camera contained evidence is purely speculative.”
She asserted that the federal prosecution needed to show probable cause to use the video.
“These facts,” she said. “Would open the door to law enforcement searches of media on a cell phone whenever a cell phone is found at the scene of an arrest solely on the basis that a cell phone was found.”
“The fact that an arrestee possessed a device capable of capturing photographs and videos at the time of his arrest cannot, in the absence of other facts, generate probable cause to search that device,” she said.
Now the prosecution has to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that NBA YoungBoy possessed the firearms found on the camera and in the car without using the video.
NBA YoungBoy is one lucky guy.
In addition to this break, after being arrested, AllHipHop.com reports that he has been placed on house arrest in Utah, a place of his choosing. And he has done well with his music. His most recent album landed at No. 1 on the Billboard charts when it was released in October. It received the honor by streaming close to 186 million times and selling about 10,000 copies.
This story is developing.
