Kevin Gates Sentenced to Six Months in Jail for Kicking a Fan in Chest

On Wednesday (Oct. 26) Kevin Gates was sentenced to six months in jail after being found guilty of misdemeanor battery. The verdict arrives a little over a year after the "2 Phones" rapper was filmed kicking a girl in her chest during one of his concerts in August 2015.

In the days before the verdict, Gates had claimed that he was innocent by virtue of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which "removes the duty to retreat before using force in self-defense." According to Gates, the victim, name Miranda Dixon, ignored his warning to stop trying to drag him off the stage. Gates said that when Dixon continued pulling at his shorts, he used "necessary force" to make sure he left the concert unharmed. Clearly the jury wasn't going for it.

Considering that the incident was recorded, Gates was definitely facing an uphill battle, even if he did have a strong lawyer on his case. Fox News 13 reports that Jose Baez, who also acted as Casey Anthony's attorney years ago, defended Gates in part by questioning Dixon's credibility.  Baez claimed that Dixon was using the case to gain more damages for a future civil trial.

“Her credibility is to be questioned and you will not be able to beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt in this case believe her and that is why you should enter a verdict of not guilty in this case," Baez said in court.

Keep it locked with XXL for more updates on this developing story.

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