The Lil Durk trial is only days away from closing arguments, and Judge Michael Fitzgerald has now ruled on how the jury must assess the case. The United States District Judge met with prosecutors and defense attorneys on Friday (September 4) to establish which arguments they can make—and which ones are off-limits.
The defense questioned whether one person can be held accountable for another person’s crimes. Prosecutors maintain that Durk ordered a hit on Quando Rondo, while the defense insists the alleged perpetrators acted on their own, without direction from the Chicago rapper.
Judge Fitzgerald reportedly outlined the Pinkerton rule, which stems from a 1946 Supreme Court case. Under the rule, jurors must determine that the defendant joined a plan and that a crime was committed to advance that plan. Although Smurk’s attorney, Christy O’Connor, pushed back against the idea of indirect responsibility, the judge reportedly said the rule would remain in place, leaving room for both sides to make their arguments.
“What the defense is saying here is that they want the right, if there should be convictions, to raise this issue with the full Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court,” Judge Fitzgerald reportedly remarked. The ruling could give the defense a route to appeal if the jury convicts Lil Durk and his codefendants, Deondre “DeDe” Wilson and David “Browneyez” Lindsey.
Prosecutors reportedly said they will not argue that a plan DeDe allegedly made without Durk’s knowledge proves his guilt. Their witnesses, including OTF Jam and OTF Vonni, alleged that Durk knowingly financed and approved the hit.
The Judge Fitzgerald clarified that The Voice’s financial dealings, including allegedly paying for flights and booking hotel rooms, cannot be used as proof of guilt during prosecutors’ closing arguments. Instead, prosecutors must establish a more direct link to the murder plot.
“The jury is already told that, specifically, in unambiguous English language, that paying for those sorts of instrumentalities are not enough,” the judge reportedly said. “It has to be a bounty beyond the actual fact of those things.” To be clear, Judge Fitzgerald was addressing what prosecutors and defense attorneys can argue and how jurors must weigh the evidence fairly and consistently. The judge did not “pick a side” in the case.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys will deliver their closing arguments on Tuesday, September 8.
