Drake has filed a motion to get out of sitting for a deposition in relation to the murder of rapper XXXTentacion.
On 7 February, suspects Michael Boatwright, Trayvon Newsome, and Dedrick Williams went on trial in Florida accused of killing the 20-year-old rapper, real name Jahseh Onfroy, during a robbery outside a shop in June 2018.
Williams’s defence lawyer Mauricio Padilla has alleged that Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, is connected to Onfroy’s death. He allegedly tried to subpoena Drake for a deposition, during which he’d give evidence under oath, at the end of January but the God’s Plan hitmaker did not appear. Last week, a judge ordered the rapper to give a deposition on 24 February or appear in court.
According to TMZ, Drake’s attorney Bradford Cohen has now filed a motion to set aside the order.
In the documents, the 36-year-old claimed his name never appeared in the investigation files about the murder and there is no reason to suggest he has relevant information about the case.
He argued the deposition order is unreasonable and simply an attempt to “add more layers of celebrity and notoriety to a tragic and unfortunate event”.
According to the motion, Padilla sent Drake a Zoom link for the deposition without putting it under seal, so it could have compromised his security. In addition, the lawyer allegedly filed a notice with the court several days later without sharing details about the Zoom deposition, and therefore, they believe the subpoena is procedurally defective.
The judge has yet to rule on Drake’s motion.
During his opening arguments on 7 February, Padilla referenced an alleged feud between the two rappers. He specifically cited an Instagram Stories post on Onfroy’s page in February 2018 that read, “If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi (Drake’s handle). I’m snitching right now.” He later deleted the post and insisted he was hacked.
The alleged feud began in 2017 when Onfroy believed Drake ripped off his song Look At Me! with his track KMT. The younger rapper escalated the feud by trolling Drake several times on social media.
The trial continues.
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