Pras Michel Seeking New Trial In Federal Conspiracy Case
Pras Michel of The Fugees has been engaged in a federal conspiracy case since earlier this year, but he believes he deserves a new trial after being convicted on all 10 counts. The 50-year-old rapper is citing inadequate representation due to his previous lawyer allegedly using AI technology to draft his closing argument.
Michel’s legal team filed a motion for a new trial on Monday (Oct. 16). They claim that his former attorney, David Kenner, “outsourced preparations — including drafting briefs, critical cross-examinations, and the opening statement — to inexperienced contract attorneys who work for an e-discovery vendor.” Furthermore, they stated that he did not take the time to “familiarize himself” with laws related to the Foreign Agents Registration Act and money laundering and did not “object to damaging and inadmissible testimony.”
In the case of the AI-generated closing argument, they stated that Kenner omitted the most viable arguments and verbally bragged about the technology facilitating the work he had to do. Additionally, he and his associates had “an undisclosed financial stake” and utilized it so that they could promote the program later on, which rendered a conflict of interest.
Neil Katz, the COO of EyeLevel.ai, the program that David Kenner allegedly used, shared a statement denying his involvement with the company. “David Kenner, Kenner Law and Case File Connect have no financial interest in EyeLevel.ai.,” Katz said. “The allegation that Kenner has an ‘undisclosed financial stake’ in EyeLevel is made up nonsense and Mr. Michel’s current legal team should know better.”
Pras Michel’s legal team also claims that the jury was presented with biased information from two federal judges who already believed the Fugees rapper was guilty. They deemed the evidence that was submitted as “improper.”
Michel’s current case stems from the rapper being convicted on 10 counts of conspiracy and falsifying records back in April. Specifically, he played a role in a multimillion-dollar influence campaign that included both Barack Obama and Donald Trump’s administrations. His charges included money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering, and campaign finance violations.
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