Gun Charges Dismissed at Preliminary Hearing By Judge Based on Illegal Stop of Vehicle

July 2025

Our client, a well-known hip hop artist was arrested following a traffic stop in South Central Los Angeles.  According to the report written by the LAPD officers, they pulled our client’s Aston Martin for “straddling” the lanes. Our client was immediately ordered out of the vehicle and a loaded firearm was recovered from the vehicle. Our client was on parole and faced several years of state prison hanging over his head if convicted. After obtaining dash cam and body worn video, it became apparent that the facts set forth in the arrest reports were contradicted by what was clear from video evidence. The defense filed a motion to suppress evidence arguing there was no probable to stop the vehicle in the first place. Confronted with their own video, the officer tried to pivot and claimed the violations occurred before they activated their recording. In anticipation, we confronted the officer with the policy manual for their cameras which provides the capability to retrieve video for up to 24 hours before activation leaving the officer with no more excuses. The Judge granted our motion.