Trial By Lyrics – Mac Phipps

McKinley “Mac” Phipps was a prodigy. He released his first rap album at the tender age of 13. From there his trajectory was only one way. Up and up. To stardom, fame and fortune.

Mac signed to No Limit Records in the late 90’s. Featuring on artists work such as Master P’s Ghetto D, he paid his dues. In 1998 Mac released his first album with No Limit, entitled Shell Shocked. It reached #11 on the Billboard 200 and sold almost half a million copies.

His second album followed in 1999. World War III was not as successful as Shell Shocked, but still sold a very respectable 150,000 copies.

Next up, a tour. A way to get him out to the wider public and cement him as an up and coming star of the rap world. Unfortunately for Mac, this is where his world came crashing down.

February 20th, 2000. Mercedes Nightclub, Louisiana

Mac was booked to play at the Mercedes Nightclub in Slidell. A small venue about 30 miles from New Orleans. A fight broke out and Baron Victor, Jr was hit by a bullet. It passed through his arm and into his heart. He was killed instantly.

Mac ducked, pulling his legally held gun out for protection as he and his entourage left immediately. Arriving home, Mac was met by several police officers, all with guns drawn. Get down on the ground, get on the ground they screamed at him. Mac did as he was told and was promptly arrested for murder.

Mac wasn’t worried. He went and answered questions, had his hands scanned for gun powder residue. The police had already taken his legally held guns from the house to examine. He thought he would be home in time for dinner.

The Interview

The police interviewed him without a lawyer present. They asked him about his music and his one of his stage names “the camouflage assassin”. Then the police brought up that several members of the audience had seen him with a gun in his hand at the shooting. Mac, knowing that carrying a conceal weapon is illegal in Louisiana, made a mistake, and denied it.

He was arrested and left in jail for a month before he was even charged. Mac asked for bail, but was denied.

A Chance of Freedom

Just after Mac’s arrest, Thomas Williams admitted to police that he had something to get off his chest. He was working security at the club that night when someone had thrown a beer bottle at him. Panicking, he pulled out his gun and fired one shot.

He claimed that he, not Mac, had been responsible for the death of Barron Victor Jr.

Mac thought he was going to go home. 20 years later, he is still incarcerated for a crime he insists he didn’t commit.

Trial By Lyrics

“Murder, Murder, Kill, Kill” said Bruce Dearing, the prosecutor in his opening remarks. “Pull the trigger, put a bullet in your head”, these are the lyrics the defendant raps about when he performs.

He went on to tell the all white jury “You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that one plus one equals two”.

A number of witnesses were produced by the prosecution. Most described the shooter as looking nothing like mac. Some have since recanted their statements and stated they were threatened with jail if they didn’t identify Mac as the shooter.

As for Thomas Williams, the man who had come forward to claim responsibility for the shooting, Dearing had no interest in him. He characterised him as a career criminal who was unreliable.

The state had no murder weapon. Mac’s gun was clean. No forensic evidence linked him to the crime. And Mac had no criminal record. He himself said he only wanted to be a musician. He kept his nose clean and worked hard at his craft.

Mac’s defence offered no witnesses and relied upon the video tape confession of Williams. He argued for a mis-trial based on the fact the prosecution were using Mac lyrics as evidence, effectively arguing that if Mac rapped about it, he must be guilty. As the defence pointed out, it would be absurd for a musician to gun down a fan at his own concert. Especially a concert attended by his own mother.

The jury went out to deliberate. The verdict? Guilty of manslaughter.

Sentencing and Jail

No criminal history. No murder weapon. Unreliable witness statements. Song lyrics used as justification.

The judge sentenced Mac to 30 years behind bars. A sentence it looks like he will serve in full. He has refused to accept parole because that would require him to admit guilt.

Years later, the foreman of the jury admitted the lyrics in Mac’s songs had helped him to make up his mind. He created a character of Mac in his mind. Ignoring that all artists have a stage persona, he took that into real life and decided that Mac was a “gangsta”. He let the prosecutor create a narrative and then he ran with it.

Mac was 24 when he entered prison. He is currently 43 and will most likely be in his mid 50’s when he completes his sentence. His conviction is built on a trial by lyrics. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sources:

Rap on trial (bostonreview.net)

My dream was being used against me in court (npr.org)

Mac (wikipedia.org)

Image Header (pixabay.com)