Mystikal yesterday, September 19, pleaded not guilty to a number of charges in Louisiana. His plea was entered at the Ascension Parish court in Gonzales and was in response to charges of first-degree rape.
However, he is also facing multiple other charges arising out of the alleged incident, including domestic abuse, battery, strangulation, false imprisonment, drug possession, simple robbery, and simple criminal damage to property. The next hearing on the matter is expected to be heard on October 17. On that day, a bond will be discussed as well.
The Grammy-nominated artist was first arrested on Sunday, July 31, in Prairieville, Louisiana, and was only indicted last month. According to prosecutors handling the case, it is believed that he raped and choked a woman at his home.
If found guilty of the offense, Mystikal could be looking at life behind bars as a first-degree rape charge carries an automatic life sentence in Louisiana. He has also been accused of possessing heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and Xanax.
This is not the “Danger” rapper’s first run-in with the law, as he was indicted on rape and kidnapping charges in 2017 and jailed for almost 18 months before being released on a $3 million bond.
Those charges were eventually dropped. Mystikal’s track record also includes a 2003 case where he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion and served a prison sentence from 2004 to 2010.
He was also issued an additional 81 days in jail for violating the terms of his probation in 2012 after he was arrested earlier that year for domestic battery.
According to his attorney, the 51-year-old performer, whose real name is Michael Tyler, is innocent of all charges. He told AP News that his client doesn’t even do drugs, so he has absolutely no idea what they were talking about.
Pearce also revealed that he believes that prosecutors will look to bring up his 2003 guilty plea to sexual battery and extortion as evidence of prior crimes.
In that case, the “Here I Go” artist and two bodyguards videotaped themselves in sex acts with his hairstylist. The prosecutor in that case, Sue Bernie, revealed that the woman told investigators that he had accused her of stealing checks worth $80,000 and in turn asked her for sexual favors in exchange for not pressing charges.
Later reports revealed a letter in court records before his sentencing the New Orleans rapper paid the woman $350,000.
Mystikal served a 6-year prison stint for that crime, which came in the same year that he was nominated for two Grammy awards.
Pearce also said that he doesn’t know what the woman who is now accusing the New Orleans native was robbed of, but according to the criminal damage charge, he is alleged to have broken the band of her Apple watch.
Pearce has previously represented the artist on rape and kidnapping charges that prosecutors in northwest Louisiana eventually dropped in December 2020. Those charges were brought in 2017 and were the ones that kept Mystikal jailed for nearly 18 months.
