Drake and his attorneys are opposing a court order for the rapper to appear for a deposition as a part of the ongoing jury trial for the 2018 murder of Florida rapper XXXTentacion.
The court ordered Drake to appear for the deposition later this month after Mauricio Padilla, a defense attorney for Dedrick Williams, one of the men accused in the killing, tried since December 2022 to get the "Nice for What" rapper to appear at a deposition prior to the trial, which started on Feb. 7. Padilla claimed that Drake avoided his scheduled deposition.
However, the Canadian rapper, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, and his attorneys are firmly fighting the order, saying it places an "unreasonable and oppressive" burden on Drake, the Los Angeles Times reported.
XXXTentacion, born Jahseh Onfroy, was shot to death in 2018, at the age of 20, during an armed robbery outside of Riva Motorsports in Pompano Beach, Florida, just north of Miami.
Months before XXXTentacion's murder, a post mentioning Drake appeared on the "I Don't Wanna Do This Anymore" rapper's Instagram. "If anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi [Drake]. I'm snitching RN," the post said.
However, the post was immediately taken down, and XXXTentacion claimed he had been hacked.
XXXTentacion had been in a known dispute with Drake in 2017 and accused the "Hotline Bling" performer of stealing his rapping style, which Drake denied.
During the trial's opening statements, Padilla, the defense attorney, mentioned the online beef and the Instagram post, criticizing law enforcement for not including Drake in their murder investigation.
"Do you think sitting here today, years later, any detective has ever asked Drake? No, they never did that," Padilla told the jury last week. "They didn't do it because it didn't comport with their version and their narrative."
In December 2022, the defense subpoenaed Drake for a virtual deposition through Zoom. However, the meeting did not push through because Drake's attorneys were concerned about the cybersecurity of the Zoom link, which was available to the public on court documents.
It was then moved to Jan. 27. But Drake and his attorneys did not show up that day, Padilla and defense attorneys said in court filings.
Last week, Padilla and the defense filed a motion to the court, asking that it require Drake to appear for a deposition. Judge Michael Usan, who is presiding over the murder trial, ordered Friday that "as a result of Aubrey Drake Graham's failure to appear for the deposition set on January 27th, 2023, Aubrey Drake Graham shall appear for deposition" on Feb. 24 or Feb. 27.
"It's a very tough case to defend," former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Rolling Stone, referring to the evidence against the three defendants. "So maybe you find a juror that believes in these types of conspiracy theories. They need a unanimous jury. Maybe a couple of jurors buy into this and you can hang the jury."
Rahmani said the judge has no choice but to let the theory play out in court, "even though there's no basis in fact."
Williams, 26, Trayvon Newsome, 24, Robert Allen, 26, and Michael Boatwright, 28, were all charged in the killing of XXXTentacion. They were accused of ambushing and robbing the rapper before murdering him.
Allen admitted to his involvement, while the others have pleaded not guilty. If convicted of first-degree murder, they face the possibility of life sentences.
