Lil Durk challenges a judge’s plan for a closed meeting as he pushes for the removal of the court and prosecutors in his murder case.
Lil Durk is pushing back against a federal judge’s plan to hold a closed-door conference about his demand to remove the entire bench and the prosecution team from his California murder-for-hire case, arguing the move violates his constitutional right to open proceedings.
Durk’s lawyers filed new objections after Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald scheduled a private status meeting for November 18 to discuss Durk’s sweeping motion seeking the disqualification of every Central District judge and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the district.
His team says any secret hearing conflicts with the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of public proceedings.
The filing argues the judge cannot handle any part of the motion behind closed doors because the request challenges the neutrality of both the court and the prosecutors.
Durk’s attorneys say the judge’s decision to schedule a nonpublic meeting reinforces their position that the motion must be sent to an outside district.
“As Justice Brandeis observed, ‘sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants,’” the filing states.
Durk’s team says the public must hear arguments about the threats prosecutors concealed for seven months.
Those threats targeted Magistrate Judge Patricia Donahue and lead prosecutor Ian Yanniello, yet the government kept the defense in the dark while both continued working on the case.
The objection also argues that the judge cannot rule on any pending motions while the disqualification request is unresolved.
Durk’s lawyers say a judge facing recusal must pause all decisions until another court weighs in, citing federal rules and prior cases that bar a challenged judge from handling substantive matters.
His team says moving ahead with regular hearings would damage trust in the process, especially when they allege prosecutors hid death threats, held undisclosed conversations with court staff, and continued litigating issues before a judge who was the target of those threats.
Durk’s lawyers want all proceedings paused and the disqualification motion sent to a judge outside the district. They say that any private hearing about the issue raises the same concerns as the motion.
Durk is charged in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Savannah rapper Quando Rondo in retaliation for the November 2020 killing of King Von.
The attack killed Von associate Lul Pab and escalated a violent feud between the groups, which prosecutors say motivated Durk’s alleged involvement in the scheme.
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