Pras Michel is currently battling charges of working as a secret agent for the Chinese government, which could land the Fugees star several years behind bars. However, after a mid-month special hearing, Pras Michel might have a glimmer of hope that a retrial is underway as he awaits sentencing.
In a new article from Vulture, it was revealed that Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly oversaw a three-day hearing for Pras Michel and his new legal team to present a series of questions to the rapper’s former attorney, David Kenner. Michel is accusing Kenner of dialing it in while representing Michel, including a claim that the attorney used AI to write a closing statement.
Kenner, despite it all, says he tried his best to get Michel cleared of the charges and even supported his former client’s hopes of gaining a retrial.
“I’m on Team Pras,” Kenner said on the witness stand during the hearing earlier this month. “I did not think he should have been convicted. I hope he is granted the retrial he seeks.”
The hearing revealed that Kenner, 81, hired a medical malpractice lawyer to oversee the matter but that the gentlemen refused to attend any of the trial happenings due to not wanting to leave his pit bulls at home in Minneapolis. Instead, the attorney told the outlet that his dogs are aggressive and said that he’d be able to perform his tasks from home.
The fact that the judge overseeing the matter called this hearing suggests there is some credence to Michel’s new claims that Kenner did not represent his client correctly and possibly violated his constitutional rights.
“She’s a careful and smart and fair judge,” Paul Pelletier, a former Justice Department prosecutor, shared with Vulture. “Calling this hearing was the fair thing to do, given what she observed during trial.”
Kenner found fame after defending the likes of Suge Knight, Snoop Dog, and the late Tupac “2Pac” Shakur. Kenner was able to get Snoop Dogg acquitted of murder charges in 1996. It should be noted that beyond Kenner’s Hip-Hop credentials, he is an attorney of considerable notoriety but it appears that his health and unorthodox methods were a bad cocktail for Michel and his legal needs.
Pras Michel isn’t out of the woods yet as the judge is still set to issue a ruling at a later time but it isn’t readily known which way the pendulum will swing.
UPDATE:
Erica Dumas, the spokesperson for Pras Michel, shared details with us that David Kenner pleaded guilty today to a contempt of court charge for leaking confidential federal grand jury files to two reporters in 2023.
“Unfortunately, former attorney David Kenner failed at every turn to competently represent Pras over the course of this lengthy legal battle.” Erica Dumas, Spokesperson for Pras Michel.
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Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty
