With jury deliberations approaching in the murder-for-hire trial of Lil Durk, the prosecution and defense teams have opposing perspectives on the inclusion of Pinkerton liability.
In documents obtained by Complex, the attorneys of Durk Banks — Christy O’Connor, Brian Steel, Drew Findling and Marissa Goldberg — argued against Pinkerton instructions, a law that holds someone accountable for the actions of coconspirators.
The Chicago rapper is on trial for the August 2022 murder of Saviay'a “Lul Pab” Robinson, the cousin of Quando Rondo, who’s alleged to be the intended target of the fatal shooting. The incident is theorized to be in retaliation for the murder of Chicago rapper King Von, who was killed in Atlanta two years before by Timothy “Lul Timm” Leeks during a scuffle with Rondo.
“Mere knowledge that others are planning to commit, are committing, or have committed a crime does not make Mr. Banks guilty of those crimes,” the defense team wrote. Attorneys added that the jury should find that Durk agreed to offer money for the crime to be committed, although it’s believed that no one involved in the shooting was compensated.
The legal team also referred to the allegation of stalking, with proposed instructions for the jury calling for them to prove that the Grammy winner intentionally helped commit the crime. On the government’s end, while they don’t oppose the request for murder-for-hire conspiracy to replace the conspiracy to stalk, they argued that “a reasonable juror could well conclude” that the stalking and murder of Robinson was a “necessary or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement to track, stalk, and kill Tyquian Bowman.”
Durk is alleged to have orchestrated the hit with co-defendants Deandre “OTF DeDe” Wilson, David “Browneyez” Lindsey and Asa “Boogie” Houston, the latter who was severed from the case. Co-conspirators Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, Kayvon “OTF Vonnie” Grant and Keith “Flacka” Jones have been cooperating witnesses and testified in the last week.
Closing arguments in the case will be held on Tuesday (September 6), followed by deliberations, expected to begin Wednesday.
