Mystikal’s Sexual Battery Sentencing Pushed Back
A scheduled sentencing for rapper Mystikal, who pleaded guilty to sexual battery, was postponed yesterday (Dec. 4) when lawyers defending the rapper claimed the judge shouldn’t be allowed to preside because he saw an “inflammatory version of the tape” that shows the rapper and his bodyguards assaulting his former hair stylist.
David Bourland, the attorney representing Mystikal, real name Michael Tyler, filed the motion putting off the sentencing, which was to take place yesterday, until to January 15. Bourland explained that the presence of the tape changes the circumstances of Tyler’s admission of guilt.
“My client would not have entered a plea if he knew the tape was going to be shown, because it’s inflammatory,” he told the Associated Press. “The tape doesn’t reflect the entirety of the events.”
The judge refused to step down, however, citing the request made by Bourland as unsupported. Bourland stated he, along with lawyers for the bodyguards, would argue to throw out the guilty pleas.
Mystikal was arrested last summer (July 2002), along with his bodyguards, and charged with aggravated rape and extortion after his hairstylist accused the men of rape.
The charges were handed down after the 40-year old woman said the rap star and his cohorts threatened to have her arrested for cashing in unauthorized checks from the rapper’s bank account. According to published reports, the men threatened and forced the woman to perform oral sex on them instead of turning her over to police.