Rapper Meek Mill speaks during a news conference promoting Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposals to reform the criminal justice system at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, May 3, 2018. Wolf, Mill and several state legislators spoke in favor of reforms. (Tim Tai/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
A judge in Philadelphia has denied Meek Mill’s request for the removal of another judge from the rapper’s case.
President Judge Leon Tucker told Mill in a Wednesday hearing that he doesn’t have jurisdiction over the matter. He says only the state Supreme Court can decide that.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Mill’s release from prison last month where he was serving a two- to four-year sentence on a probation violation related to a decade-old gun and drug conviction.
Mill’s lawyers want Judge Genece Brinkley removed from his case. They allege she’s been waging a vendetta against the rapper, including sending him to prison for the probation violations.
She has strongly defended her impartiality.
Prosecutors say they believe Mill should get a new trial because of questions raised about the credibility of his arresting officer.
