A Louisiana judge has denied rapper Mystikal bond following his recent arrest and charges of first-degree rape and battery.
According to Baton Rouge’s The Advocate, on Tuesday, State District Judge Steven Tureau ruled against Mystikal, citing evidence that the 51-year-old artist’s past history and the victim’s fears met the standard for holding him without bail.
Mystikal (real name Michael Tyler) was arrested over the weekend and has been charged with three felonies and two misdemeanors including first-degree rape, domestic abuse battery (strangulation) and simple robbery.
The artist’s defense attorney, Roy Maughan Jr., originally asked for $250,000 bond, claiming that his client is innocent of the most recent charges, including rape and domestic abuse battery by strangulation. Maughan claimed that Mystikal had never missed a court date for his prior court issues and that being a celebrity would make him an unlikely flight risk due to his inability to avoid recognition and subsequent capture.
However, Judge Tureau disagreed. Mystikal served six years in prison after pleading guilty in 2003 to sexual battery. In 2016, he faced rape and kidnapping charges which kept him in jail for 18 months. However, in December 2020, prosecutors in Louisiana’s Caddo Parish dropped the rape and kidnapping charges. He was not convicted of a number of other charges that had been brought against him in the last several decades, including marijuana possession and misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
Maughan stated to The Advocate that his client would probably not appeal the bond ruling
