Drake’s armed guards refused and “kicked” subpoena in XXXTentacion murder trial
Drake‘s armed guards allegedly refused a subpoena issued to the rapper in relation to the murder of XXXtentacion.
According to the Miami Herald, Mauricio Padilla, lawyer for Dedrick Williams, one of the three men accused of murdering XXXTentacion, issued a motion last week requiring Drake (real name Aubrey Graham) to deliver a deposition later this month.
Padilla alleged that when an attempt was made to deliver the subpoena outside Drake’s California home on February 14, guards not only closed the gates in the face of the servers, but also kicked the subpoena down the driveway.
The defence lawyer’s filing also included transcribed audio of the conversation said to have taken place between the process servers and Graham’s guards, reports Rolling Stone.
According to the audio, security repeatedly allegedly insisted the process servers had to get off Graham’s property and maintained that they were neither expecting any deliveries, nor authorised to accept anything.
In trying to plead their case, one of the process server’s allegedly told the guards: “It is only a subpoena for a virtual deposition, it is not even like a lawsuit bro.”
After one final attempt to serve Graham, one of the process server’s apparently said: “By the way, I like Drake.” To which the guard replied, “I am not accepting anything.”
Along with trying to serve Drake, Padilla claimed a subpoena was also served to his lawyer Bradford Cohen, asking if he would “accept service on behalf of” the rapper which Cohen allegedly refused.
In a filing by Cohen yesterday (February 20), he insisted that the subpoena brought to Drake’s house was not properly served in compliance with California law, arguing that not only was he not authorised to accept service, but neither were the guards.
Cohen, also tried to get the court to strike an order to show cause requiring Drake to sit for a deposition.
While prosecutors have never claimed that Drake was implicated in XXXtentacion’s 2018 death, Padila previously tabled Drake’s alleged involvement as an alternative theory to the killing.
He cited an alleged feud between Drake and XXXtentacion (real name Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy) dating back to 2018. In his opening arguments on February 7, Padilla referenced a social media post from Onfroy that read, “If anyone tries to kill me it was [Drake]. I’m snitching right now.”
Onfroy later deleted the post and told his followers not “to [entertain] that bullshit on Twitter.” The rapper said the post was part of an apparent hack. Elsewhere, in court filings submitted last December (via Billboard), Padilla referenced Drake’s 2017 song ‘KMT’, which Onfroy believed was stolen from him, according to the court filings.
Drake’s lawyers first tried to quash the subpoena effort last week. But the judge ruled he would still have to partake in some fashion, setting a date for this Friday (February 24).
Onfroy was killed in a shooting at the age of 20 as he left a car dealership in Miami, Florida in June of 2018.
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Damian Jones
NME
