This has been blowing up like crazy. If it's a repost MY BAD.
But more and more facts are coming out about his case, and it seems that he got railroaded by the DA. it's only coming out because the DA that tried Mac recently retired.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6612074
Fourteen years after rapper McKinley "Mac" Phipps was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of a teenage fan at a show, five prosecution witnesses have told The Huffington Post that police and prosecutors bullied them into fingering the once-promising hip-hop artist as the gunman.
The star witness, Yulon James, who testified she saw Phipps fire the fatal shot, said she was repeatedly threatened by the parish district attorney's office, headed by DA Walter Reed, who left office in January*amid a reported federal grand jury investigation*into campaign funds and side businesses.
"They stalked my house, they stalked my job and they stalked my family," said James, who now acknowledges she "didn't see anything" and testified falsely against Phipps. "The DA came over to my parents' house and told me I would have my baby in prison if I didn't testify."
Reed's office has not responded to calls and emails from The Huffington Post, nor has his attorney, Richard T. Simmons. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office declined to comment.
James said she came forward with the story because Reed is no longer in power. Reed's 30-year run as DA ended this year after he decided not to seek a seventh term amid the ongoing investigation. There has been no indication that the probe involves cases his office prosecuted.
In a four-month review of Phipps' conviction, The Huffington Post identified four other witnesses -- former nightclub owner Dwight Guyot, the victim's cousin Jerry Price, Phipps' cousin Larnell Warren and club-goer Jamie Wilson -- who said they were threatened, jailed or flat-out ignored by authorities. The claims, along with James' recantation, appear to cast doubt on Phipps' conviction.*
'Murda, Murda, Kill, Kill'
On Feb. 21, 2000, Phipps was performing at Club Mercedes in Slidell, Louisiana. A fight broke out and at least one shot was fired. A fan, Barron Victor Jr., 19, fell dead.
James, then a 24-year-old nursing student, had gone to the club that evening with friends.
Phipps, 22, was a rising star in the New Orleans area.*Master P*had signed him to*No Limit Records, alongside Snoop Dogg and Mystikal. He was known as "Mac the Camouflage Assassin," and had recently released "World War III," featuring cuts such as "Assassin Nation," "Genocide" and "War Party." He had planned to leave No Limit to start his own label -- Camouflage Entertainment.
“He [was] definitely one of the smartest, most intelligent lyrical wizards over there" at No Limit, Michael Render, the rapper better known as Killer Mike, told HuffPost.
Investigators said witnesses told them they saw Phipps with a gun. He was arrested hours after the killing. The following year, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The murder weapon was never found and no forensic evidence tied Phipps to the crime. Still, the prosecutor portrayed Phipps as a gangsta rapper who was as brutal as some of the imagery in his lyrics, quoting generously from "Murda, Murda, Kill, Kill," a top cut from "Shell Shocked," his first No Limit album.
"This defendant who did this is the same defendant whose message is, 'Murder murder, kill, kill, you f--k with me you get a bullet in your brain," assistant district attorney Bruce Dearing told jurors in his closing argument. "You don't have to be a genius to figure out that one plus one equals two."
Jurors didn't know the prosecutor had selectively grabbed quotes from different songs, juxtaposing lyrics in a way Phipps never intended. Phipps maintains he was rapping about his Vietnam veteran father in "Shell Shocked" with the line: "Big Mac, that's my daddy, rotten dirty straight up soldier … Ya f--k with me, he'll give you a bullet in yo brain."
Phipps' song never said, as the prosecutor told the jury, "you f--k with me you get a bullet in your brain." And the line "Murder, murder, kill, kill," is from a different song.
Dearing declined to comment on the case.*
I'm just here so I don't get fined
But more and more facts are coming out about his case, and it seems that he got railroaded by the DA. it's only coming out because the DA that tried Mac recently retired.
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6612074
Fourteen years after rapper McKinley "Mac" Phipps was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of a teenage fan at a show, five prosecution witnesses have told The Huffington Post that police and prosecutors bullied them into fingering the once-promising hip-hop artist as the gunman.
The star witness, Yulon James, who testified she saw Phipps fire the fatal shot, said she was repeatedly threatened by the parish district attorney's office, headed by DA Walter Reed, who left office in January*amid a reported federal grand jury investigation*into campaign funds and side businesses.
"They stalked my house, they stalked my job and they stalked my family," said James, who now acknowledges she "didn't see anything" and testified falsely against Phipps. "The DA came over to my parents' house and told me I would have my baby in prison if I didn't testify."
Reed's office has not responded to calls and emails from The Huffington Post, nor has his attorney, Richard T. Simmons. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office declined to comment.
James said she came forward with the story because Reed is no longer in power. Reed's 30-year run as DA ended this year after he decided not to seek a seventh term amid the ongoing investigation. There has been no indication that the probe involves cases his office prosecuted.
In a four-month review of Phipps' conviction, The Huffington Post identified four other witnesses -- former nightclub owner Dwight Guyot, the victim's cousin Jerry Price, Phipps' cousin Larnell Warren and club-goer Jamie Wilson -- who said they were threatened, jailed or flat-out ignored by authorities. The claims, along with James' recantation, appear to cast doubt on Phipps' conviction.*
'Murda, Murda, Kill, Kill'
On Feb. 21, 2000, Phipps was performing at Club Mercedes in Slidell, Louisiana. A fight broke out and at least one shot was fired. A fan, Barron Victor Jr., 19, fell dead.
James, then a 24-year-old nursing student, had gone to the club that evening with friends.
Phipps, 22, was a rising star in the New Orleans area.*Master P*had signed him to*No Limit Records, alongside Snoop Dogg and Mystikal. He was known as "Mac the Camouflage Assassin," and had recently released "World War III," featuring cuts such as "Assassin Nation," "Genocide" and "War Party." He had planned to leave No Limit to start his own label -- Camouflage Entertainment.
“He [was] definitely one of the smartest, most intelligent lyrical wizards over there" at No Limit, Michael Render, the rapper better known as Killer Mike, told HuffPost.
Investigators said witnesses told them they saw Phipps with a gun. He was arrested hours after the killing. The following year, he was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The murder weapon was never found and no forensic evidence tied Phipps to the crime. Still, the prosecutor portrayed Phipps as a gangsta rapper who was as brutal as some of the imagery in his lyrics, quoting generously from "Murda, Murda, Kill, Kill," a top cut from "Shell Shocked," his first No Limit album.
"This defendant who did this is the same defendant whose message is, 'Murder murder, kill, kill, you f--k with me you get a bullet in your brain," assistant district attorney Bruce Dearing told jurors in his closing argument. "You don't have to be a genius to figure out that one plus one equals two."
Jurors didn't know the prosecutor had selectively grabbed quotes from different songs, juxtaposing lyrics in a way Phipps never intended. Phipps maintains he was rapping about his Vietnam veteran father in "Shell Shocked" with the line: "Big Mac, that's my daddy, rotten dirty straight up soldier … Ya f--k with me, he'll give you a bullet in yo brain."
Phipps' song never said, as the prosecutor told the jury, "you f--k with me you get a bullet in your brain." And the line "Murder, murder, kill, kill," is from a different song.
Dearing declined to comment on the case.*
I'm just here so I don't get fined
