By Corrections1 Staff
NEW YORK — An attorney for rapper DMX pulled an unusual move in court in hopes of convincing a judge to be lenient on the rapper.
Attorney Murray Richman said he wanted to play the music video to DMX’s “Slippin” to show the judge how far the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had come since his rough childhood, NBC News reports. Judge Jed Rakoff agreed to let the song play ahead of Simmons’ sentencing.
“His life experiences were horrible. I’ve heard terrible tales, but I’ve never heard such horrible upbringing as this,” Richman said. “We thought the video would really demonstrate to the court just what he had to go through to get to where he was.”
Despite the attorney’s efforts, Rakoff sentenced the rapper to one year in prison for tax evasion. Prosecutors said Simmons owed $1.7 million in unpaid taxes.
Richman described the proceeding before, during and after the song was played as “dramatic.”
“In that courtroom, you could hear a pin drop,” Richman said.