Lil Durk trial No. 2 pushed to 2027 after stunning acquittal
Aug. 30, 2027. That’s the new start date for the next Lil Durk trial, after a federal court order issued Wednesday, Sept. 30, moved the case off its Oct. 5, 2026, placeholder, Billboard reported after obtaining the order.
The delay comes less than three weeks after a Los Angeles federal jury acquitted the Chicago rapper, whose legal name is Durk Banks, of murder-for-hire on Sept. 11, The Associated Press reported. Prosecutors had accused him of putting a bounty on rival rapper Quando Rondo to avenge the 2020 killing of Durk’s friend and collaborator King Von.
One count still standing in the Lil Durk trial
Durk still faces a single count under the federal Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity statute, known as VICAR. Prosecutors added it to his case late, and U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald, who criticized the timing, kept it out of the first trial, according to Billboard.
The charge claims that a faction of Only the Family (OTF), Durk’s Chicago-based label, operated as a violent gang. Prosecutors tie that alleged enterprise to the 2022 Rondo shooting, a 2022 killing of a rival gang member in Chicago and an attempted murder in Atlanta in 2019. Durk had been arrested in the Atlanta case, but those charges were dropped, Billboard noted.
Durk’s lawyers, Brian Steel, Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg and Christy O’Connor, tore into the count when it surfaced in June, calling it “lipstick on a pig” and a “pathetic pivot.” In a statement at the time, they said, “This is not a sign of strength. It’s an acknowledgment of weakness. The fact remains: Durk Banks is innocent, no matter how many indictments they want to throw at him.”
Could double jeopardy come into play?
Before the second Lil Durk trial begins, Billboard expects the defense to push to have the VICAR count thrown out or narrowed, possibly by arguing double jeopardy because the new charge leans so heavily on the Rondo shooting that jurors already weighed. Both Durk’s team and a representative for prosecutors declined to comment on Thursday, Oct. 1.
What jurors heard the first time
The first Lil Durk trial drew famous supporters, including Ye (formerly Kanye West) and mgk, to the courthouse, Billboard reported. Rondo survived the 2022 shooting at a Los Angeles gas station, but his cousin, Saviay’a Robinson, known as Lul Pab, was killed. The government’s case leaned on three cooperating witnesses: Kacey “OTF Jam” Hester, Keith “Flacka” Jones and Kavon “Vonnie” Grant. They testified that Durk arranged for shooters to travel from Chicago to Los Angeles and offered cash rewards for the attack, though Billboard noted no payments were ever completed.
Prosecutors also played Durk’s hits “Who Want Smoke??,” “Ahhh Ha” and “Pissed Me Off” for jurors and argued that the “Ahhh Ha” lyrics hinted at the plot. The defense countered that his music is commercial art, not a confession. (Many states have restricted rap lyrics as trial evidence, but the practice remains legal in federal court, Billboard noted.) His lawyers also painted Grant, Durk’s former personal assistant with access to his credit cards, as the real organizer. Jurors heard jailhouse calls in which Grant described the trial as his “time to shine” and a chance to “perform.”
In the end, the jury cleared Durk of all three counts: murder-for-hire, stalking and conspiracy. Co-defendants David “Browneyez” Lindsey and Deandre “OTF Dede” Wilson were convicted of stalking and conspiracy but acquitted of murder-for-hire, and they await sentencing.
The Lil Durk trial adds to a run of high-profile federal cases involving hip-hop stars, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose prison release date moved up this summer. Follow our music news and special interests coverage for updates.