The Canadian rapper, Aubrey Drake Graham, known professionally as Drake, has been ordered to appear for a deposition in the murder trial of XXXTentacion. Dedrick Williams, one of the suspects in the case, has been attempting for weeks to have Drake questioned concerning his possible involvement in the murder, through his attorney Mauricio Padilla. Padilla had previously failed to subpoena Drake and other rappers to appear in court but finally succeeded on Tuesday (Feb. 8), with Judge Michael Usan signing off on an order that requires Drake to come in for questioning.
According to court documents, Drake was supposed to sit for a deposition on Jan. 27 but failed to do so. As a result, Judge Usan has ordered that he should appear for the deposition on Feb. 24, 2023, via Zoom video link. The court order states that if Drake fails to show up for the deposition, he could be held in contempt of court and would be required to appear before the court on Feb. 27, 2023, to determine why he should not be held in contempt.
Padilla has argued for weeks that Drake and other rappers should testify as witnesses in the XXXTentacion murder trial, citing Drake's beef with XXXTentacion as a possible cause for X's murder. Months before X's death, a cryptic post surfaced on the South Florida rapper's social media that read: "If anyone tries to kill me it was [Drake]." Padilla also cited lyrics from Drake's "Her Loss" album in his arguments.
"They are high-profile people. And it's not easy for me to subpoena," Padilla told Judge Usan last month. "I don't have numbers, but it doesn't mean I won't be able to. Trying to subpoena Drake is not easy—you need a drone."
However, Prosecutor Pascale Achille filed a motion against the attempt to get Drake to testify, stating that the defendant intended to "surprise" the state and create a trial by ambush. In court on Tuesday, Padilla stated his case again and finally succeeded in getting the judge to sign off on the controversial move.
