Meek Mill’s Request for a New Trial Has Been Denied

Meek Mill appears to have hit a wall in his decade-old legal battle as his request to be granted a new trial has been denied as of yesterday (June 25).

Despite support from hundreds of fans and a request on behalf of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, Judge Genece Brinkley was not swayed by the Wins and Losses rapper's appeal for a retrial when he appeared in court on Monday (June 18). During his request for a retrial, Meek's legal team brought to question the credibility of Reginald Graham, the arresting officer and only testifying witness in the rapper's 2008 case.

Meek's request for a retrial has been largely based on Graham being included on a list of corrupt cops, maintained by the Philadelphia District Attorney's office, which catalogues officers with known histories of lying or exhibiting racial bias. Judge Brinkley, however, made it very clear in an opinion memorandum, filed on Monday (June 25), that Meek's team had failed to provide enough proof in questioning the officer’s credibility.

According to the opinion memorandum, obtained by XXL, Judge Brinkley compared the defense's argument that Meek's case should be handled the same way as other PCRA cases to horrific abuses like slavery and the #MeToo movement.

"History is full of practices that existed for years without correction. The institution of slavery persisted in this country for over 300 years," Judge Brinkley said. "The longevity of this practice repeatedly was legitimized by those who supported it. In addition, recently the #MeToo Movement has exposed the unequal power of dynamics in society that effectively subjugated a class of citizens for hundreds of years."

Meek's lawyer Jordan Siee explained further that Judge Brinkley was attempting to denigrate their argument that because others arrested by Officer Reginald Graham were granted new trials, Meek should have the same opportunity.

Mr. Siee called Judge Brinkley's words shocking.

"What an insult to slavery and victims of sexual assault," he said. "That she would have the nerve to say that makes no sense and shows the shocking lengths she’ll go to."

Throughout the opinion, Judge Brinkley even finds officer Graham as being more reliable than Bradley Bridges, a reputable senior attorney affiliated with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

Brinkley, who sentenced Meek in November to two to four years in prison for violating probation (mere months before his 10-year probation was set to expire), has continued to exhibit unfavorable behavior throughout rapper's legal proceedings. Just last week, the MMG signee's legal team claims the judge laughed at their witness in court. Back in April,  the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recommended that Judge Brinkley recuse herself from the case but she has since refused, leading all the more to the argument that she has a personal vendetta against the rap star.

Mill’s lawyer Joe Tacopina told XXL, “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. 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.”

See Photos of Meek Mill's Different Looks Over the Years