One of the charges headed before jurors in Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial is facing a last-minute challenge from his defense. Attorneys for the Chicago rapper are asking a federal judge to dismiss a stalking conspiracy count, arguing that prosecutors failed to identify which alleged victim Durk and his co-defendants supposedly intended to harm.
According to a filing obtained exclusively by AllHipHop, the disputed count identifies two people by the initials T.B. and S.R. Those initials refer to Quando Rondo, whose legal name is Tyquian Bowman, and his cousin Saviay’a “Lul Pab” Robinson. Robinson was killed during the August 2022 shooting near Los Angeles’ Beverly Center that prosecutors allege was intended for Rondo.
“The Fourth Superseding fails to allege that Mr. Banks had the intent to harm a particular victim,” Durk’s attorneys reportedly wrote. “It therefore fails to state an offense.”
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A Complicated Upcoming Trial
The rapper's legal team's concern goes directly to how a jury could reach a guilty verdict. The defense argues that some jurors could conclude the alleged stalking conspiracy targeted Rondo while others could believe Robinson was the intended victim. Under that scenario, all 12 jurors could technically vote to convict without agreeing on the same alleged offense.
“This creates a danger that a jury could find a defendant guilty without reaching a unanimous consensus on the commission of any single, particular offense,” the filing states. Durk’s lawyers also point to the government’s proposed instructions for Count Two, arguing that those instructions do not name a victim either.
The objection comes after prosecutors separated other stalking allegations by victim. According to AllHipHop’s exclusive report, Durk now argues that leaving the broader conspiracy count unchanged creates an ambiguity the government should not be allowed to carry into deliberations. Prosecutors oppose dismissal, and U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald is scheduled to hear arguments on the request on August 18.
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The upcoming trial is now expected to proceed on six counts after Fitzgerald previously separated newer allegations connected to the 2022 killing of Stephon Mack in Chicago. That case will be handled separately and does not yet have a trial date.
The stalking motion will be decided before jury selection begins August 20. If Fitzgerald sides with Durk, one charge will disappear before jurors are seated. If he does not, the defense has already signaled that it intends to make the identity of the alleged stalking target part of its argument over whether prosecutors have defined the crime clearly enough to convict.
