Citing a new state law that attempts to remove the criminal stigma attached to enjoying artistic expressions like rap songs, a California appeals court threw out the murder conviction of a man because prosecutors used a music video as evidence during the trial, ABC News reports.
The Riverside court ruled Travon Rashan Venable, Sr.’s conviction at trial for a 2004 drive-by shooting was invalid because prosecutors showed the jury a music video in which Venable appeared, but did not say anything, while a rapper described the shooting for which Venable was later convicted. The court said that nothing in the video implied intimate knowledge of the shooting by anyone in the video, and that the rapper’s account was one someone heard.
The “Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act” signed by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom last September seeks to ensure “creative expression will not be used to introduce stereotypes or activate bias against the defendant, nor as character or propensity evidence.” The court ruled that although the law was not in effect at the time of Venable’s original conviction, the evidence would not be admitted in an appeal, and it likely impacted the decision of the jury. Because the case is still under appeal, the court ruled the new law applied and overturned the conviction, saying the admission of the video likely prejudiced the jury against Venable.