Drake Wants to Slide out of XXXTentacion Questioning, But May Have No Choice

Drake was ordered by a Florida judge last week to appear for a deposition in the murder case of XXXtentacion, he is now fighting the order through his lawyers, who claim that he has no connection to the murder and it is unreasonable to make him appear for a deposition.

Four men have been charged in the murder of XXXtentacion – Dedrick Williams, Trayvon Newsome, Michael Boatwright, and Robert Allen.   In December, Williams’ lawyer, Mauricio Padilla, included Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, on a witness list.  He later argued to the court that Drake was a necessary witness because the police had not adequately investigated an alleged feud between him and XXXtentacion.

In a 2018 social media post, which was later deleted, XXXtentacion wrote that “if anyone tries to kill me it was @champagnepapi,” which is Drake’s Instagram handle.  He later claimed his account had been hacked.

Padilla subpoenaed Drake to appear for a deposition in January and claimed that Drake did not show up. Subsequently, Judge Michael Usan ordered Drake to appear at a deposition on February 24 or be charged with contempt.   The judge found that Padilla had made a sufficient showing to allow the deposition to take place but indicated that the deposition could be limited in scope and that the transcript would remain sealed. 

A deposition is an out-of-court examination of a witness transcribed by a stenographer, which may be used in court under certain circumstances.

Drake’s lawyers filed a motion on Sunday seeking to overturn the order, arguing that Drake was not required to appear because he was never properly served with the subpoena and there was no evidence showing that he had any knowledge relevant to the case.   They claimed that the defense counsel was merely trying to bring big celebrity names into the chance to make headlines.

Drake’s motion is awaiting a decision by the judge.