wayne-ja3.JPGStacey Richman, the lawyer who is representing Lil Wayne and Ja Rule in their separate gun possession cases, is blaming the hip-hop police for targeting the two rappers after they performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Ja Rule was arrested at approximately 10:30 p.m. on July 22 after the NYPD pulled his vehicle over for allegedly speeding. Police searched the 2004 Maybach, which is owned by the Maximum Transportation firm, and found a .40-caliber Taurus pistol. According to Stacey Richman, the gun found in the car belonged to someone else. “If you get a car, and something’s left in the car, is that yours?,” Richman asked MTV News. “How can you ascribe that anybody knows what’s in a car?”

Lil Wayne was also arrested that same night at approximately 11:30 p.m. when the NYPD allegedly spotted Weezy’s and another man smoking marijuana near a tour bus on 61st Street and Columbus Avenue. According to prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, when the officers boarded the bus, they saw Wayne toss a Louis Vuitton bag off his lap. Upon searching the bag they found a .40 caliber Springfield Armory semi-automatic pistol. But according to Wayne’s attorney, Stacey Richman, the NYPD’s claims are false. “[Wayne] was in the bus in his boxer shorts with a number of other people,” Richman told MTV News. “Unless his boxer shorts had a pocket for this gun, I don’t understand how he had it on him.” Richman also stated that witnesses have not confirmed the reports of Wayne hiding the pistol in the Louis Vuitton bag. In addition, Richmand’s father and legal partner, Murray Richman, claims Wayne’s arrest was a result of targeting rappers by the NYPD Hip-Hop Police, who “staked out the [tour] bus.” Murray also told MTV News that he questions the NYPD’s motives since the 12 to 20 people on the tour bus were not arrested along with Wayne. According to Murray, the New York law states that if authorities search a vehicle and find an unclaimed gun, everyone must be charged.

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