Alleging the illegal recording of an ‘off the record’ conversation about the rapper’s legal troubles
Since his release from prison earlier this year (the culmination of the high profile #FreeMeekMill campaign), Meek Mill has continued to fight for reform in the American justice system. The rapper was sentenced to jail time by Judge Genece Brinkley in 2017 for reckless driving, against the recommendation of prosecutors, and served five months of his two-to-four year sentence, released early due to the “credibility concerns” of a witness, as reported by the BBC.
As part of his ongoing activism, Mill’s story will be the focus of an upcoming Amazon documentary, which aims to expose “flaws in the criminal justice system”. But now the series itself has run up against legal issues.
A. Charles Peruto Jr, who represents Judge Genece Brinkley in the fight for Mill’s exoneration, has alleged that a camera was left on after an interview for the upcoming documentary, capturing a conversation that he had requested be kept “off the record”. Though the camera was pointed at the wall, the audio of the exchange was fairly clear.
In the audio, Peruto is heard suggesting that Judge Brinkley should grant a new trial for Mill and that, if he were in her shoes, he would let it go. But now it has been released to the press, the lawyer is suing Amazon, Jay Z’s Roc Nation, and The Intellectual Property Company – which are all working on the documentary in some capacity – over claims that the recording is his property.
Attorney James Beasley Jr writes: “These illegally intercepted and digitized oral communications were then edited and leaked to the press so that Mr. Peruto’s off the record words would be manipulated against him and his client, Judge Brinkley, and to maliciously further their own agenda in maximizing the buzz and profitability of the upcoming Meek Mill Documentary Series.”
While the case goes on, he’s asking the court to order everyone involved in the Meek Mill documentary – and any third parties who might hold a copy of the recording – to hand over the audio. Will that make it go away, when it’s already plastered over the internet? Unlikely.