In what may prove to be a precedent-setting move, a judge in Louisiana ruled yesterday (April 24) that Lil Boosie’s lyrics will be admissible in the first-degree murder case against him, which goes to trial next week. Per a Billboard report, Judge Mike Erwin decided that specific words contained in the song “187” (below) can be used by the prosecution in the case against Boosie, née Torrence Hatch, who is accused of hiring Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding to off 35-year-old Terry Boyd on October 21, 2009.
“187,” which includes the line “Any nigga who ever tried to play me, they dead now” in its first verse, goes on to refer to “murk” and “cake,” what lawyers will helpfully explain are slang terms for “murder” and “money” when the jury is listening to evidence. The song’s title also refers to Section 187 of California’s Penal Code, which defines murder as a crime. Nevertheless, Judge Erwin ruled that only those three slang terms may be used against Boosie, most likely because legally, using the entire song would constitute unfair prejudice (in other words, it would be fairly easy for the jury to hear the song in its entirety and pre-suppose his guilt for the wrong reasons).
Louding, the alleged hit man, claims Hatch paid him $2,800 to kill Boyd; Hatch, who is currently incarcerated in Louisiana’s Angola Prison (the largest penitentiary in America), has pleaded not guilty but could face the death penalty if convicted.
Also Read
Compact Discs: Sound of the Future
Though this isn’t the first time lyrics have been used against a rapper in a court of law — C-Murder changed his rapper name to C Miller when he unsuccessfully appealed his murder conviction in 2005 (he tried and failed again in 2011), and an unsigned Brooklyn rapper called Rated-R got nailed with his back in 2006 — it’s certainly the most high-profile instance.
