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Gunna Files New Petition for Jail Release
Gunna is making a last-ditch bid to get himself out of jail.
After his previous efforts were rejected, the rapper’s legal team is asking a neighboring county in Georgia to grant his release.
On Tuesday, lawyers for the 29-year-old rapper, born Sergio Kitchens, filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, a constitutional procedure that allows prisoners to challenge their imprisonment. Gunna’s attorneys argue that Fulton County prosecutors have not provided evidence to keep him behind bars.
“To allow Mr. Kitchens to be held in jail by the unsworn claims and conclusions of the state, devoid of any specific facts or supporting evidence—over objection by the defense—is to render his presumption of innocence meaningless and to discard his right to due process,” Gunna’s attorneys wrote, according to Billboard.
This comes after a judge in Fulton County denied Gunna’s motion for bond twice, once this month and previously in May, suggesting that he poses a threat to the public and could intimidate other witnesses if released.
“Repeatedly, the state proffered shocking and conclusory facts and then gave no basis as to how it believed this information was accurate and gave no nexus between the ‘facts’ and Mr. Kitchens,” Gunna’s lawyers added. “Without the proper tools of cross examination, the defense was powerless to respond.”
The habeas petition must be filed in the jurisdiction where a prisoner is held. Gunna is currently incarcerated in the Henry County Jail. This would provide a way to get around Fulton County Superior Court.
Gunna was arrested in May and charged in a 56-count RICO indictment that includes Young Thug and other members of YSL. Prosectors claim that he is a member of the alleged “Young Slime Life” street gang.
He is expected to remain in jail until his January 2023 trial date.
