Judge Genece Brinkley.

A dispute is shaping up about whether Philadelphia defense attorney A. Charles Peruto Jr.'s lawsuit against Roc Nation and Amazon over a leaked audio recording should be heard in state or federal court.

Peruto sued the two national companies, as well as IPC Television and Sixx Degrees Media, in September, claiming that the defendants leaked audio of him allegedly bashing one of his clients—Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley, who is presiding over the controversial case involving embattled hip-hop star Meek Mill. The lawsuit seeks control of the audio, which was allegedly recorded as part of a documentary series that was being filmed.

Peruto filed the suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, but the defendants removed the suit to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last month, contending that Peruto fraudulently joined one of the defendants solely to create jurisdiction in Pennsylvania.

The jurisdictional dispute is focusing specifically on Sixx Degrees Media, which is the only defendant based in Philadelphia. According to a recent joint filing from Roc Nation, Amazon and IPC Television, which were all involved in the documentary series, Sixx Degrees Media has no connection with the project, and would not have copies of the audio at issue.

The defendants, in a filing from Nov. 1 said Peruto could only point to Sixx Degrees Media's website and Instagram page showing that the company's CEO, Sixx King, indicated he has helped organize rallies and has given comments to other media outlets. Neither of those factors, however, show he had any involvement in the documentary series, or has copies of the recording, the defendants contended.

“If this kind of assertion were sufficient to defeat diversity, such speculative claims could be used to drag before the court countless people and entities in Philadelphia who have rallied for Mr. Williams or spoken publicly about his cause,” the defendants said in the filing. “The inference plaintiff asks this court to draw from the website and social media posts is simply a bridge too far.”

In the audio at issue, which was eventually leaked to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Peruto can be heard saying, among other things, that Brinkley's conduct “looks fucking awful.”

Brinkley became the subject of much media attention after she sentenced Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, to a lengthy jail sentence for a probation violation, even though neither Mill's probation officer nor the prosecutor on the case had sought jail time.

The sentence garnered national attention and sparked an outcry for criminal justice reforms. It also led to a protracted appeals process, which has spurred hundreds of additional appeals involving cases from Mill's arresting officer, led one court employee to be fired, and raised an ethical cloud over Brinkley, which eventually led her to hire Peruto.

According to Peruto a portion of the audio was cut out of the leaked recording, which would have given the proper context to his comments, in which he said he praised the judge for following the law. He also said he made the comments off the record, and when he believed the camera had been turned off.

In a filing from October, Peruto asked the federal court to remand his suit back to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, saying that Sixx Degrees had been properly brought into the case.

“Sixx Degrees Media has been involved in Philadelphia rallies on behalf of Meek Mill,” the motion, filed by James Beasley Jr. of The Beasley Firm, said. “It is also understood that Sixx Degrees Media plays a role in the upcoming docu-series involving Meek Mill's 'journey' through the Philadelphia Criminal Justice System, and possesses copies of the 'off the record' illegally obtained recording at issue and has been instrumental in its distribution.”

Beasley did not return a call seeking comment Monday morning.  Derek Jokelson of Jokelson Law Group, who is representing IPC Television, and King also did not return a message seeking comment Monday. Counsel for Roc Nation, Joshua Peles, declined to comment, and Ballard Spahr attorney Michael Berry, who is representing Amazon, declined to comment without speaking with his client first.