Bun B recently appeared on CNN to voice his disapproval of the Supreme Court using New Jersey rapper Vonte Skinner lyric’s in his retrial for attempted murder.
It appears that the judicial system is proceeding with the scrupulous tactic regardless of the Houton native’s thoughts on the matter.
Skinner was initially accused of shooting Lamont Peterson in a trial that was left without a verdict. Now that the retrial is under way, he may be hearing a different song when the new jury has their day in court.
Reports The Grio:
A New Jersey man whose rap lyrics boasted he would “blow your face off and leave your brain caved in the street” will have his attempted murder case considered by the state’s Supreme Court, which will decide whether the words he penned should have been admitted at trial.
During the trial, state prosecutors read 13 pages of rap lyrics that were found in the back seat of the car Skinner was driving when arrested. The writings, some penned three or four years before the Peterson shooting, include a reference to “four slugs drillin’ your cheek to blow your face off and leave your brain caved in the street.”
Another passage describes a mother in a mortuary, taking clothes “red soaked ravaged with holes” and “Wonderin’ if you died in pain. Was it instant or did you feel the slugs fryin’ your veins.”
Judge Carmen Alvarez wrote in a dissenting opinion that the lyrics’ relevance in showing motive and intent outweighed their prejudicial effect on the jury, and that “defendant’s songs narrated events similar to the conduct which resulted in the charged offenses.”
Jeanne LoCicero, deputy legal director of the ACLU New Jersey said that song lyrics that are to be used as evidence, need to be “direct relation to the crimes committed,” the same sentiment Bun B conveyed on his national television spot.
Do you feel Vonte Skinner lyrics should be used against him, even if they are of little relevance to the crime? Let us know your opinion on the matter in the comment section below.
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Photo: New Jersey Department of Corrections
