Mystikal, a New Orleans-born rapper who made it big in the early 2000s, wants a judge to gag his case of rape and false imprisonment in Ascension Parish, citing “disproportionate publicity.”
The motion, filed Thursday, was one of the first acts of Mystikal’s new defense attorney, Tiffany Myles Crosby.
The rapper, whose first name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, recently dropped his longtime defense attorneys who had successfully represented him against a previous rape charge in northern Louisiana that prosecutors dismissed before trial in December 2020.
The gag order would prevent lawyers from either side from commenting on the latest case to “any person or entity”, including radio, television or newspaper reporters.
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The gag order would also apply to “all potential witnesses and law enforcement officials who will or may testify, or have information about, at the hearing in this case.”
Tyler, 52, is scheduled to appear in court before Judge Steven Tureau on Monday. Tyler has been in jail without bail since his arrest in July, with a trial scheduled for this summer.
Tyler is accused of violently assaulting a woman he has known for more than 20 years. Ascension Sheriff’s Investigators said the woman went to Tyler’s Prairieville home in July to seek financial help to set someone up in an apartment.
Tyler is accused of taking the woman’s car keys and cell phone and holding her in his home against her will. He is said to have raped and strangled her, threatened her life with scissors and once prayed with her to get rid of her “evil spirits”.
Before she could leave his home on Retreat Lane, Tyler forced the woman to give him $150 in cash through a cellphone app, authorities said in a warrant. He had previously accused her of stealing cash from him and hit her when she denied it, the warrant said.
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Tyler has pleaded not guilty to first degree rape, robbery, false imprisonment and other criminal charges. A rape conviction would carry life imprisonment.
If Tureau’s gag order is granted, the motion would represent a sharp reversal of the modus operandi of Tyler’s previous defense attorneys Joel Pearce and Timothy Yazbeck.
After hearings in the case, they routinely held press conferences outside the Ascension Courthouse in Gonzales. They charged his victim out of court, but not in court, with shakedown for money.
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Crosby is a local public defender and rarely seeks opportunities to speak out in the media. Based on court records so far, it appears Tyler hired Crosby privately. Crosby did not immediately respond to a call for comment Thursday.
Ascension prosecutors also did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Pearce said he recently received a brief statement from Tyler that he was no longer using his services, without saying why.
Although Tyler did not tell the court why he dumped Pearce and Yazbeck, Crosby asked his new attorney, Tureau, to remove from the court records a recent round of motions filed on his behalf.
The requests sought his alleged victim’s mental health, drug and hospital records, as well as her cell phone details, arguing that they may contain information suggesting his innocence. His former attorneys also brought in a forensic scientist to examine the cellphone data.
In court filings, Tyler and his new attorney now claim the motions were filed “without his understanding” and are “nonessential, outrageous and scandalous.”
But Pearce, the former attorney, says he and Yazbeck went through all the applications with Tyler, who “agreed on every step.”
“In the 31 years that I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen a defendant file something so ridiculous,” Pearce said.
Pearce said he hopes Tyler pulls through, adding that he has a winnable case.
Tyler rose to national fame in the 1990s and is best known for his 2000 hit single “Shake (It Fast).” Because of this song, Tyler’s 2000 album Let’s Get Ready sold more than a million copies. In early 2003, he was nominated for two Grammy Awards.
He is also a registered sex offender for life, having been convicted of sexually assaulting another woman in Baton Rouge in 2003. He was also convicted of racketeering and served six years in prison.
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