Lil Durk seeks to separate charges in Los Angeles murder-for-hire trial
Lil Durk wants to exclude his new federal charges from his upcoming murder-for-hire trial.
Last month, the Chicago rapper was hit with charges of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit stalking.
According to Complex, Durk’s legal team filed a motion to sever the counts, or to throw out the indictment altogether, on June 26th.
His lawyers claimed that if the racketeering counts aren’t broken up, the trial will have no choice but to be delayed due to the amount of new evidence.
As a result, they say that this would violate his rights to a speedy trial, which is scheduled for August 20th.
“Because the last-minute addition of the VICAR [Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering] Counts imperils Mr Banks’ Constitutionally-guaranteed right to a speedy trial, this Court should sever those counts from the Los Angeles Counts, and allow him the prompt trial he has consistently demanded,” the motion reads.
It continues, “The government’s delay in bringing additional charges and producing evidence in support of those charges is unjustifiable. Any further continuance would be of the government’s sole creation and would warrant dismissal of the Third Superseding Indictment.”
Durk was arrested in October 2024 and is accused of conspiring with others to kill Quando Rondo, resulting in the death of his cousin, Lul Pab. The rapper is currently behind bars at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
He’s charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of use of interstate facilities to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death, one count of using, carrying, and discharging firearms and a machine gun and possession of such firearms in furtherance of a crime of violence resulting in death.