Judge denies motion to reassign Meek Mill's case

PHILADELPHIA (WTXF/AP) - A Philadelphia judge has refused to reassign rapper Meek Mill's case the day after prosecutors deemed a new trial necessary.

In a courtroom Wednesday, a judge refused to reassign Meek Mill's case in his 2008 conviction on gun and drug charges that began his decade-long legal battle. FOX 29's Steve Keeley reports the judge claimed his court did not have the proper authority or jurisdiction to order the new trial.

Meek Mill, whose real name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, was at the center of a months-long controversy after he was sentenced to two to four years behind bars for probation violations back in November. The sentence sparked wide-ranging public reaction and criticism of the state's criminal justice system.

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office wrote a letter to the judge seeking a new trial and questioning the testimony of the arresting officer in his case.

Williams was released from prison after the state Supreme Court ordered the judge who had sentenced him to let him out while he appeals his decade-old drug and gun convictions.

Since his release, Williams said he plans on getting those convictions overturned and plans on resuming his music career.

Judge Genece Brinkley, who sent Mill to prison and had refused to release him on bail until the Supreme Court ruling, was accused by the defense of waging a vendetta against the rapper. She defended herself, saying she had acted "impartially and without prejudice" in all proceedings since 2008.

Williams case is due back in court June 18.