Brooklyn rapper, gang leader Ra Diggs loses appeal in murder, drug case
Court says using music lyrics, videos as evidence is fair game
A federal court of appeals on Friday upheld the conviction of Brooklyn gang leader Ronald “Ra Diggs” Herron, who ruled the drug trade at two Brooklyn public housing projects and allegedly described real-life murders in his rap lyrics.
Herron appealed his 2014 conviction on the grounds that “music and promotional videos related to his rap music career were erroneously admitted into evidence.” Federal prosecutors used the lyrics to bolster the case against Herron, who was charged with murdering several rivals in the Wyckoff and Gowanus Houses and ruling the drug trade from the late-90s until 2011.
Though the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit acknowledged that the First Amendment “limits the government’s ability to regulate the content of speech,” the court cited case law and said the Constitution does not “prohibit the evidentiary use of speech to establish the elements of a crime or to prove motive or intent.”