Overview
- The defense filed a motion Tuesday asking Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald to separate the June-added VICAR and racketeering counts from the Los Angeles murder-for-hire case or to dismiss the new indictment if severance is denied.
- Prosecutors enlarged the case on June 3 by adding VICAR (Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering) counts and allegations that tie prior incidents in Chicago and Atlanta into an alleged multi-state enterprise.
- Durk’s lawyers say the government produced roughly a terabyte of new discovery in late June and reintroduced incidents prosecutors earlier said they would not use, creating an impossible prep burden weeks before trial.
- The motion frames the late expansion as a Sixth Amendment speedy-trial problem because Durk has been detained since October 2024 and repeatedly opposed prior delays, so any further continuance would, the defense argues, be of the government's making.
- A July 27 hearing will decide whether the August 20 trial proceeds on the original Los Angeles counts, is split so the racketeering claims are tried separately, or is narrowed or delayed if the court rejects severance and weighs the speedy-trial claims.