Mystikal has spent nearly three years in jail after being arrested for rape. He was almost one step closer to knowing his fate in the case yesterday, but a scheduled court date did not go as planned.
Life in Prison Looms Over Mystikal for Rape Accusation
Mystikal was set to face a judge in Ascension Parish court in Louisiana on Monday (March 17) to enter a plea in his rape case. Unfortunately, the rapper did not make his way to court because the judge delayed his case, according to KLFY News 10 in Lafayette, La.
The new court date was pushed back to May 19, when Mystikal, 54, is expected to give a plea. However, the New Orleans rhymer has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 2022, and previously pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree rape, domestic abuse battery by strangulation and false imprisonment.
XXL has reached out to Mystikal’s lawyer for comment.
Rape allegations have plagued Mystikal’s career for decades. The most recent accusation stems from an incident on July 30, 2022, after an alleged victim identified him to police as the suspect who raped her. Mystikal was accused of assaulting the victim following a dispute over money at the rapper’s Prairieville, La. home. She claims Mystikal thought she took $100 from him, which caused him to reportedly punch, choke and pull out her hair. He then allegedly stopped her from leaving the home by taking her keys and cell phone.
While trying to find the missing money, she found a “crystalline substance” substance in his dresser. Cops later discovered Xanax, heroin and marijuana at Mystikal’s home during a search.
She alleged that Mystikal forced her onto a bed and raped her after praying with her and splashing her with rubbing alcohol to cleanse her “bad spirits.” The victim was reportedly in a long-term relationship with the former No Limit artist.
Prior to this, he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery and extortion in 2003, in connection to an incident with his then-hair stylist. Mystikal became a lifetime registered sex offender as a result of that case, and was released in 2010. Two years later, he returned to jail for violating his probation.
Another rape accusation put Mystikal back behind bars in 2017, when he was charged with the crime again in Louisiana and indicted for both rape and kidnapping. For two years he sat in jail, then was released on a $3 million bond. The case was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence.
If Mystikal goes to trial and is convicted of rape related to the 2022 case he’s currently in jail for, he faces a mandatory life sentence. Two months from now, he’s scheduled to go in front of a judge to put another plea on paper. Will he enter a guilty plea to avoid life in prison or continue to say he didn’t do the crime? If he takes the risk to go in front of a jury, he’s gambling on whether they’ll believe him or the victim, who shared grim details of what he allegedly did to her when recounting the rape.
:contrast(9)/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Fc319d325-949a-47b2-a612-ff9564e91158 "Jennifer Love Hewitt reveals she got hooked in the eye and ankle while shooting I Know What You Did Last Summer films: ‘I went blind’")
