A new appeal filed by Meek Mill's lawyer uncovers another layer to his case. This week, The Philadelphia Inquirer published a report stating that last year, the District Attorney's office secretly put together a list of Philly police officers who "had a history of lying, racial bias or brutality," in order to prevent them from being able to testify in court.
The paper called the move a response to the nationwide issue of "testilying." In other words, falsifying evidence, framing people and lying about it on the stand.
On Wednesday, Meek's legal team filed an appeal using the Post-Conviction Relief Act petition in response to the Inquirer's report. It calls into question his 2007 arrest on gun and drug charges. The arresting officer was Reginald Graham. Sources say he is also included on the DA's list, although the reason why wasn't given.
Retiring last year, Graham made over 400 arrests over 22 years. He declined to comment to the Inquirer. According to the paper, appellate lawyers for the rapper were never informed of the list, or that Graham was on it.
Graham was the lone witness during Meek's 2008 trial. According to two other officers, Graham's testimony outright contradicts what actually happened on the day Meek was arrested. Meek's attorney, Joe Tacopina, told Complex that he wasn't really surprised by the information.
"There were 800 cases that were dismissed or overturned upon discovery of this group of officers who had been committing crimes, lying about circumstances of arrests, and falsifying documents. One of those officers is the same one who not only arrested Meek, but made allegations that Meek has always denied. This is the only one that testified against Meek."
It is important to note that the list was not made public. At this point, Meek's lawyers say they want his sentence vacated. If the charges against him aren't dropped, they will seek a retrial.
Source: complex.com
