Rapper Meek Mill walked out of prison Tuesday after Pennsylvania’s highest court ordered him freed while he appeals decade-old gun and drug convictions.
Following a five-month campaign by his supporters to get him out
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Mill was sentenced in November to two to four years in prison for probation violations.
He was taken from the prison by helicopter to Philadelphia, where he rang the ceremonial bell at the start of Game 5 of the Philadelphia 76ers-Miami Heat playoff series.
”Welcome home Meek Mill,” said the game announcer to the rapper, who was sitting courtside next to actor Kevin Hart and Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin.
Before the game, Mill visited privately with the Sixers in their locker room.
A team of lawyers and public relations consultants had waged an all-out battle to get him freed, leveling fierce criticism at the judge as a stream of high-powered figures and celebrities visited him in jail outside Philadelphia just hours before the Supreme Court ruling.
Mill issued a statement saying the past months had been ”a nightmare,” and thanked his many supporters and visitors, who included Rubin, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
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”Although I’m blessed to have the resources to fight this unjust situation, I understand that many people of color across the country don’t have that luxury and I plan to use my platform to shine a light on those issues,” Mill said.
He said he would now focus his attention on getting his convictions overturned, and that he looks forward to resuming his music career.
Earlier this month, in a major victory for Mill, prosecutors said they agreed with his lawyers that he should get a new trial because of questions raised about the arresting officer. The now-retired officer was among a list of police officers the prosecutor’s office has sought to keep off the witness stand in cases across the city because of credibility questions.
A spokesman for District Attorney Larry Krasner said late Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s decision on Meek Mill’s release was consistent with the position taken by their office.
Mill’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, thanked the high court.
”Meek was unjustly convicted and should not have spent a single day in jail,” Tacopina said.
In an opinion earlier this month
Nick Chubb Browns Jersey , Judge Genece Brinkley, who sent Mill to prison for the probation violations, strongly defended herself against accusations by the defense she was waging a vendetta against the rapper. She said the court ”has impartially and without prejudice presided over numerous proceedings in this matter since 2008.”
The Supreme Court denied a defense request to move the case to another judge, but said the presiding judge could opt to remove herself.
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This story has been corrected to say Mill rang the ceremonial bell at the start of Game 5 of the Philadelphia 76ers-Miami Heat playoff series, not the start of the playoff series.
Dirk Nowitzki plans to become the first player to spend all 21 seasons with the same NBA franchise.
Dennis Smith Jr. will be half the German star’s age when the Dallas Mavericks open next season looking to end the first two-year playoff drought in nearly two decades. The team posted its worst record since 1997-98, the year before Nowitzki arrived.
The No. 9 overall pick who turned 20 early in what ended up as a solid rookie season, Smith figures to have a new teammate facing high expectations the way he did. Dallas will pick no lower than seventh in June.
Smith will have at least one thing in common with Nowitzki, who turns 40 this summer. They want the Mavericks to be regulars in the postseason again, the way they were before the current swoon.
”I’ve been in a couple of arenas that are playoff teams
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It’s certainly better than 24-58, tied with Atlanta for the league’s third-worst record. Youth, injuries and a difficult schedule buried the Mavericks early for the second straight year.
They spent the last half of the season wondering where they would fall in the lottery, and owner Mark Cuban was fined $600,000 for suggesting that Dallas had been tanking for two seasons. Part of Cuban’s point was that he’d had enough of that approach.
”We do not want to go back to what we just experienced,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said. ”That’s unanimous, from the top on down. When you go through retooling or rebuilding situations like we’re going through now, it’s done with the right people.”
For Nelson
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The Mavericks made the playoffs 15 out of 16 years starting in 2001, winning their first championship in 2011. They haven’t won a playoff series since.
”We’re certainly hoping that we’re not in the early stages of a rebuild,” coach Rick Carlisle said. ”We want to get through this as expeditiously as possible. But there’s no way you can skip steps.”
Things to consider after the first 50-loss season for Dallas since the last of seven in an eight-season stretch in the 1990s:
DIRK FOR 22?
Surgery for bone spurs in his left ankle ended Nowitzki’s season a few games early, but after he had set a record for games in a 20th season with 77. He has had a season-to-season approach for several years now.
”I’m hoping the ankle will be tons better than this year,” said Nowitzki , who figures to pass Wilt Chamberlain on the career scoring list but get passed by LeBron James to leave him where he is now – sixth place. ”It’s hard for me at this point to commit further than one year or say one year’s it.”
SMITH’S BACKUPS
J.J. Barea has a year left on his contract after averaging career highs of 11.6 points and 6.3 assists per game. Yogi Ferrell and Seth Curry have expiring contracts, but the Mavericks figure to be interested. Ferrell proved to be a solid role player on a two-year deal earned after a flashy start on a 10-day contract last season. Dallas had high hopes for Curry
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MORE FIREPOWER
The Dallas roster was loaded with undrafted and/or G League players, and Carlisle has been praised for the development of some of those younger players. Now it’s time to replace projects with weapons.
”Getting Rick ammunition is our No. 1 priority in the offseason,” Nelson said. ”We’ve got a great opportunity in the draft. Free agency as you know will be extremely active. There’s trade fronts obviously that will be probed as well.”
THE LAST OF NOEL
There was no mention of center Nerlens Noel on the final day of interviews. Suspended the final five games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program, Noel never developed into the post player Dallas envisioned after getting him at the trading deadline last season. After a lost season on a one-year deal as a restricted free agent, he hits the open market with little or no value.
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