The judge in YoungBoy Never Broke Again's California gun possession case has ruled that the rapper's lyrics cannot be used against him in his trial.
NBA YoungBoy's trial for gun possession began on Tuesday (July 12). In a ruling in court today, Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California shut down the prosecution's attempts to use the Baton Rouge, La. rhymer's lyrics as evidence. XXL has confirmed the ruling.
YoungBoy Never Broke Again's defense team has been trying to stifle the government's plan to use lyrics in court for weeks. Specifically, the lyrics to songs "Gunsmoke" and "Life Support," which mention the type of gun, an FN, the rapper was allegedly arrested with.
The topic of the use of song lyrics in court cases has been a controversial one. Recently, the prosecution in YSL's RICO case tried to use violent lyrics in their argument to deny Young Thug and Gunna bond. In May, New York passed a law limiting the use of lyrics in court.
XXL has reached out to YoungBoy Never Broke Again's lawyer, his label reps and the U.S. District Attorney for comment.
The California case stems from a situation in which NBA YoungBoy was arrested in Los Angeles on March 22, 2021. In the incident, police attempted to pull the rapper over in order to arrest him on an outstanding federal warrant after he left his Los Angeles residence. YoungBoy reportedly led the police on a short pursuit in his vehicle before exiting the SUV and running on foot. Police used K-9 dogs to eventually locate the artist and reportedly discovered a FN .45 caliber pistol in his car.
A magistrate in California granted the rapper a bond. However, a Louisiana judge ruled he be kept behind bars due to a pending gun case he had in Baton Rouge, La. Last June, it was revealed that the FBI codenamed their case against YoungBoy "Never Free Again." In October of 2021, YoungBoy was granted a bond and placed on house arrest.
NBA YoungBoy still has the gun case in Louisiana, which stems from him being arrested in September of 2020 at a video shoot where several guns were discovered. He got a break in that case back in March, when a judge threw out video evidence against the rapper.