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i saw this posted in the flow thread
but i feel like it deserves its own thread
it's a shame but flow was found guilty aka he's done and it's his own fault
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but i feel like it deserves its own thread
it's a shame but flow was found guilty aka he's done and it's his own fault
Halfway through his closing argument in a New Orleans courtroom on Monday, defense attorney Gary Wainwright flashed a thick wad of $100 bills to the jury.
It was the kind of cash that once meant nothing to his client, the rapper Widner “Flow” Degruy, as he toured with his mentor Lil Wayne, Wainwright said. He claimed it would have made no sense for Degruy to gun down two brothers over such petty cash.
But after about 90 minutes of deliberation, jurors disagreed. They convicted Degruy, 27, on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Wainwright said the jury's decision was 11-1 on all the counts.
The once-rising rapper is now set to spend the rest of his life in prison after his mandatory sentence is imposed May 7 by Criminal District Court Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier.
The speedy verdict followed an acrimonious trial where jurors had to balance Degruy’s testimony against state witnesses including his mother and a co-defendant from his New Orleans East neighborhood.
Prosecutors alleged that Degruy killed brothers Kendrick and Kendred Bishop, 22 and 18, in 2015 because he believed they stole $8,000 in cash and a gun from him.
Assistant District Attorney Alex Calenda said in his closing argument that despite all the other evidence, Degruy’s legal trouble ultimately stemmed from his “arrogance and ego” — and from the fact that he left his cellphone at the scene of the crime.
Rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy denies gang link in testimony at New Orleans murder trial
Rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy denies gang link in testimony at New Orleans murder trial
“It was actually built, this whole case, on the words of Mr. Degruy. Mr. Degruy, after dropping that phone, set everything in motion by his inability to shut up,” Calenda said.
At 5:43 a.m. May 25, 2015, police responded to a 911 call in the 4800 block of Bright Drive, a residential street in New Orleans East. Officers found the Bishop brothers dead inside a rented Kia sedan from a ghastly array of gunshot wounds. There were shell casings from a high-powered rifle and a 9mm pistol.
Within minutes, cops had their first suspect. Degruy showed up next to the crime scene tape. He initially gave a fake name as he expressed surprise that his cellphone was lying on the ground next to the Bishops’ car.
Back in a police interview room, Degruy admitted his real name and said he had attended a Lil Wayne show in Mobile, Alabama, earlier in the night with the Bishops. Degruy said he was a friend of the older brother, Kendrick.
After they returned from Mobile to New Orleans East, the brothers left him minutes before the shooting to buy cigars from a convenience store, Degruy said.
His story was demonstrably false. Video from the convenience store showed Degruy entering with a friend, Jonathan “Lil’ Joe” Evans, as the Bishop brothers sat in a car outside.
The video also made clear that Degruy had changed clothes that morning.
Degruy, who has been awaiting trial since 2015, pleaded guilty to counts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice in February of this year. He faced up to 40 years in prison on those counts alone.
Wainwright said that plea was an acknowledgment that his client had lied to the cops. But Degruy fibbed out of a misguided allegiance to the code of the streets, Wainwright said.
“He is a kind and generous person who came up here and said, ‘I made the most horrible mistake of my life,’ ” Wainwright said.
Widner 'Flow' Degruy insists he's no killer during testimony at Orleans Parish double murder trial
Widner 'Flow' Degruy insists he's no killer during testimony at Orleans Parish double murder trial
Yet that was the extent of Degruy’s involvement in the crime, Wainwright said.
Degruy testified that just before the shooting, he saw Evans meet up with Evans’ cousin, 15-year-old Damian “Lil’ D” Crockem. Degruy said he had split off from the pair to buy Xanax pills when he heard gunshots.
Evans had earlier described Kendred Bishop as one of his enemies, according to Degruy, but Evans testified that he did not know the brothers at all.
A surveillance video showed Degruy and Evans running away after the shooting scene. Wainwright explained that as a “horrible coincidence of circumstances.” Degruy said that as he ran toward his mother’s house a few blocks from the shooting, Evans came up behind him.
Degruy’s mother, Chantell Edwards, testified that within hours of the shooting, she disposed of two guns that she found in her son’s room. She testified under an agreement with prosecutors that will allow her to plead guilty to a misdemeanor.
Evans also testified for hours, as he did at a separate murder trial last year where the defendant was acquitted. He said Degruy had directed him to take part in the killings because he thought the Bishops had stolen cash from his car a week earlier.
Wainwright told jurors that Evans could not be trusted because he had won a lenient, 20-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. He also seized on inconsistencies, such as the fact that Evans once told cops he gave Degruy a .40-caliber weapon instead of a 9mm gun.
Wainwright fumed that Evans’ plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office gave him immunity for any crimes he might have committed save murder.
“Welcome to the world of the cooperating witness,” Wainwright said. “Their whole evidence is a circumstantial case, and they know it. Because nobody could send anyone to prison to die of old age on the word of Jonathan Evans.”
Once his 'partner,' cooperator testifies against rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy at murder trial
Once his 'partner,' cooperator testifies against rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy at murder trial
However, Calenda, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Irena Zajickova, said that the discrepancies in Evans’ statements only made him more believable.
“I'm not going to coach him. He's going to be Jonathan Evans. He's going to be Lil’ Joe from the streets,” Calenda said. “Jonathan is no angel ... but the problem is that there are a thousand Jonathans in this city.”
Meanwhile, Calenda said, jurors could discount Degruy’s entire testimony because he lied about not sporting gang signs in a tattoo on his chest and on his jail-issued shoes.
“Is he associated with the Piru Bloods? That's not relevant here,” Calenda said. “What's relevant is this: He wanted to lie to you straight-faced.”
Before the jury was brought in on Monday, Wainwright moved for a mistrial over the mention on Friday of the alleged gang symbols. Flemings-Davillier denied the request.
Louisiana is the only state to allow split verdicts leading to life imprisonment, although crimes committed after Jan. 1 of this year will require a unanimous verdict because of a referendum voters passed in November.
Wainwright filed a motion before the start of the trial asking the judge to require unanimity, which she denied.
“We believe that they were never able to contradict Widner's assertions to what happened, and we look forward to his appeal,” Wainwright said.
It was the kind of cash that once meant nothing to his client, the rapper Widner “Flow” Degruy, as he toured with his mentor Lil Wayne, Wainwright said. He claimed it would have made no sense for Degruy to gun down two brothers over such petty cash.
But after about 90 minutes of deliberation, jurors disagreed. They convicted Degruy, 27, on two counts of second-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Wainwright said the jury's decision was 11-1 on all the counts.
The once-rising rapper is now set to spend the rest of his life in prison after his mandatory sentence is imposed May 7 by Criminal District Court Judge Tracey Flemings-Davillier.
The speedy verdict followed an acrimonious trial where jurors had to balance Degruy’s testimony against state witnesses including his mother and a co-defendant from his New Orleans East neighborhood.
Prosecutors alleged that Degruy killed brothers Kendrick and Kendred Bishop, 22 and 18, in 2015 because he believed they stole $8,000 in cash and a gun from him.
Assistant District Attorney Alex Calenda said in his closing argument that despite all the other evidence, Degruy’s legal trouble ultimately stemmed from his “arrogance and ego” — and from the fact that he left his cellphone at the scene of the crime.
Rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy denies gang link in testimony at New Orleans murder trial
Rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy denies gang link in testimony at New Orleans murder trial
“It was actually built, this whole case, on the words of Mr. Degruy. Mr. Degruy, after dropping that phone, set everything in motion by his inability to shut up,” Calenda said.
At 5:43 a.m. May 25, 2015, police responded to a 911 call in the 4800 block of Bright Drive, a residential street in New Orleans East. Officers found the Bishop brothers dead inside a rented Kia sedan from a ghastly array of gunshot wounds. There were shell casings from a high-powered rifle and a 9mm pistol.
Within minutes, cops had their first suspect. Degruy showed up next to the crime scene tape. He initially gave a fake name as he expressed surprise that his cellphone was lying on the ground next to the Bishops’ car.
Back in a police interview room, Degruy admitted his real name and said he had attended a Lil Wayne show in Mobile, Alabama, earlier in the night with the Bishops. Degruy said he was a friend of the older brother, Kendrick.
After they returned from Mobile to New Orleans East, the brothers left him minutes before the shooting to buy cigars from a convenience store, Degruy said.
His story was demonstrably false. Video from the convenience store showed Degruy entering with a friend, Jonathan “Lil’ Joe” Evans, as the Bishop brothers sat in a car outside.
The video also made clear that Degruy had changed clothes that morning.
Degruy, who has been awaiting trial since 2015, pleaded guilty to counts of obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice in February of this year. He faced up to 40 years in prison on those counts alone.
Wainwright said that plea was an acknowledgment that his client had lied to the cops. But Degruy fibbed out of a misguided allegiance to the code of the streets, Wainwright said.
“He is a kind and generous person who came up here and said, ‘I made the most horrible mistake of my life,’ ” Wainwright said.
Widner 'Flow' Degruy insists he's no killer during testimony at Orleans Parish double murder trial
Widner 'Flow' Degruy insists he's no killer during testimony at Orleans Parish double murder trial
Yet that was the extent of Degruy’s involvement in the crime, Wainwright said.
Degruy testified that just before the shooting, he saw Evans meet up with Evans’ cousin, 15-year-old Damian “Lil’ D” Crockem. Degruy said he had split off from the pair to buy Xanax pills when he heard gunshots.
Evans had earlier described Kendred Bishop as one of his enemies, according to Degruy, but Evans testified that he did not know the brothers at all.
A surveillance video showed Degruy and Evans running away after the shooting scene. Wainwright explained that as a “horrible coincidence of circumstances.” Degruy said that as he ran toward his mother’s house a few blocks from the shooting, Evans came up behind him.
Degruy’s mother, Chantell Edwards, testified that within hours of the shooting, she disposed of two guns that she found in her son’s room. She testified under an agreement with prosecutors that will allow her to plead guilty to a misdemeanor.
Evans also testified for hours, as he did at a separate murder trial last year where the defendant was acquitted. He said Degruy had directed him to take part in the killings because he thought the Bishops had stolen cash from his car a week earlier.
Wainwright told jurors that Evans could not be trusted because he had won a lenient, 20-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. He also seized on inconsistencies, such as the fact that Evans once told cops he gave Degruy a .40-caliber weapon instead of a 9mm gun.
Wainwright fumed that Evans’ plea agreement with the District Attorney’s Office gave him immunity for any crimes he might have committed save murder.
“Welcome to the world of the cooperating witness,” Wainwright said. “Their whole evidence is a circumstantial case, and they know it. Because nobody could send anyone to prison to die of old age on the word of Jonathan Evans.”
Once his 'partner,' cooperator testifies against rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy at murder trial
Once his 'partner,' cooperator testifies against rapper Widner 'Flow' Degruy at murder trial
However, Calenda, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Irena Zajickova, said that the discrepancies in Evans’ statements only made him more believable.
“I'm not going to coach him. He's going to be Jonathan Evans. He's going to be Lil’ Joe from the streets,” Calenda said. “Jonathan is no angel ... but the problem is that there are a thousand Jonathans in this city.”
Meanwhile, Calenda said, jurors could discount Degruy’s entire testimony because he lied about not sporting gang signs in a tattoo on his chest and on his jail-issued shoes.
“Is he associated with the Piru Bloods? That's not relevant here,” Calenda said. “What's relevant is this: He wanted to lie to you straight-faced.”
Before the jury was brought in on Monday, Wainwright moved for a mistrial over the mention on Friday of the alleged gang symbols. Flemings-Davillier denied the request.
Louisiana is the only state to allow split verdicts leading to life imprisonment, although crimes committed after Jan. 1 of this year will require a unanimous verdict because of a referendum voters passed in November.
Wainwright filed a motion before the start of the trial asking the judge to require unanimity, which she denied.
“We believe that they were never able to contradict Widner's assertions to what happened, and we look forward to his appeal,” Wainwright said.
My Bro Is Finished 
Dear Mr. ImTooGoodToDropAnAlbum 
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