A trial examining the murder of Jahseh Dwayne “XXXTentacion” Ricardo Onfroy has taken another turn.
Attorney Mauricio Padilla, who is representing one of the three men charged in the late artist’s death, has accused Drake of using security guards to avoid being deposed in the trial. A motion filed by Padilla claims a servicer attempted to serve the rapper a subpoena on February 14 in California. Instead of meeting with the chart-topping artist, he was reportedly stopped by armed security guards who refused to accept it on his behalf and “kicked it down the driveway.”
“Nope, no one is expecting anything. Whatever is left we are trashing it,” one guard allegedly said, according to the Miami Herald.
Padilla’s desire to have Drake testify virtually or in court stems from the Toronto native’s alleged dispute with XXXTentacion. The beef allegedly began in 2017 when the Grammy Award winner was accused of stealing XXXTentacion’s flows from his hit single, “Look At Me.” Months later, XXXTentacion posted and deleted a message insinuating that Drake would try to kill him.
A recent report from Billboard indicated that Drake was scheduled to sit for a virtual deposition on January 27, but he failed to show up. More than two weeks later, another subpoena was issued in an attempt to have him participate in a virtual deposition. However, Broward County Judge Michael Usan revoked that order earlier this week, removing the threat of holding the global star in contempt if he did not comply. Still, still retains the power to subpoena Drake to testify in the case and is expected to file a motion regarding the matter on Tuesday.
Drake’s attorney, Bradford Cohen, has continued to push back at the attempts to have his client are “unreasonable and oppressive.”
“No evidence has been provided to substantiate the assertion that [Graham] in any way contributed to, had knowledge of, or participated in the alleged incident and to mandate that he appear for deposition for something that he very clearly has no relevant knowledge of is unreasonable,” court filings obtained by Rolling Stone read.
Drake nor the prosecution have publicly commented on the matter.
