Meek Mill. Photo: Shutterstock

Nearly eight months has gone by since the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied rapper Meek Mill's bid to toss Judge Genece Brinkley out of his case and secure a new trial. Now, it appears, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is helping to make the push with him.

In an appellate brief filed to the Superior Court on Wednesday, Krasner said that Brinkley wrongly refused to step away from the case. The move sees Krasner now taking a more active role in seeking Brinkley's recusal, whereas before he simply did not oppose the rapper's efforts.

Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Williams, has been seeking to overturn his decade-old conviction on drug- and gun-related charges, based on arguments that newly uncovered evidence casts serious doubts about the credibility of a key witness at his trial. Brinkley, who handled his initial trial, denied those efforts in a ruling in June that followed a contentious court hearing and claims from Williams' legal team that Brinkley had been acting more as a prosecutor than a judge.

In the DA's brief, Krasner calls out Brinkley for allegedly being biased against Williams from the start, driving her decision to sentence him to two-to-four years for a probation violation after checking in on him at a local community service performance.

“Recusal was required,” court papers said, “due to Judge Brinkley's 'surprise' visit to the homeless shelter where Williams was performing community service and her subsequent reliance on her own observations during that visit to resolve disputed issues of fact and to revoke Williams' probation. After raising this potential violation without prior notice to the parties, the court played the role of both decision maker and fact witness. In so doing, the court inappropriately created the appearance of partiality.”

Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Williams, said his client is pleased with this recent turn of events.

“We are very pleased that the Philadelphia District Attorney's office has confirmed to the Superior Court that Meek is entitled to have his conviction vacated,” Siev said in an email. “The brief is also significant in that it marks the first time the DA has publicly outlined in writing that it supports Judge Brinkley's recusal based on her 'appearance of partiality' and 'public perception of unfairness and bias.'”

The rap artist has been on probation since 2008. After being arrested twice in 2016 on charges that were later dropped, Brinkley sentenced him in November 2017 to two-to-four years in prison. The sentence stunned both the rapper's fan base and criminal justice attorneys alike, since neither Williams' probation officer nor the prosecutor on the case had sought jail time.

In March 2018, Williams filed a King's Bench petition with the justices, asking that Brinkley be tossed from the case and that he be allowed out on bail. The justices agreed to release Williams on bail, but said it would decide the Brinkley issue.

In the lead-up to a June 2018 hearing, Williams' legal team asked the judge who supervises Philadelphia's criminal courts to remove Brinkley, but that judge said only a higher court would have the power to remove another Common Pleas Court judge. Williams' team quickly made its second bid to the Supreme Court, saying Brinkley's recent activity, including having a private attorney make public statements about the case and filing lawsuits claiming she suffered potentially disabling injuries, should disqualify her from handling his appeal.

The court split 3-3 on that appeal, with three justices saying Brinkley's “continued involvement has created an appearance of impropriety that tends to undermine public confidence in the judiciary.” One of the justices who denied the petition also suggested Williams could file another appeal after the June 18 hearing.

Brinkley issued a lengthy opinion in late June, saying Williams failed to convince her that newly discovered evidence about possible misconduct of the sole officer who testified at his trial created enough doubt to warrant a new one.

The King's Bench appeal would have sidestepped the state Superior Court, which, according to attorneys, has very little leeway when it comes to reversing a trial court judge's ruling on a post-conviction appeal.