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The rapper, whose real name is Hakeem Robinson, was convicted in July of first-degree murder in the 2020 death of Charles McCormick.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville rapper Ksoo, who was convicted of first-degree murder in July, was not granted a new trial in Duval County court Tuesday afternoon.
After hearing the rapper’s attorneys’ arguments for a new trial, Judge Tatiana Salvador set his sentencing for Sept. 19 at 10 a.m. Because first-degree murder is a capital felony in Florida, Ksoo will receive a life sentence.
On July 31, the rapper whose real name is Hakeem Robinson, was convicted of murder in the January 2020 death of Charles McCormick.
Prosecutors said Robinson gunned down McCormick as he walked out of a temp agency on Merrill Road on Jan. 15, 2020.
The crime was motivated by the death of Robinson’s stepbrother Willie Addison, who was shot while coming out of a club exactly a year before McCormick’s murder. While Robinson and his co-defendant Leroy Whitaker are documented members of Jacksonville gang ATK, Addison was killed by a member of 6block, a rival gang. Prosecutors said McCormick was part of 6block.
Prosecutors said McCormick wrote a “diss track” about Addison’s death, making fun of the shooting that not only killed him, but badly injured Robinson’s father, brother and cousin.
Prosecutors said this was Robinson’s motivation for killing McCormick. The narrative described by the state is that Robinson, Whitaker and accomplice Dominique Barner all stalked McCormick together. While they said Robinson was caught on camera shooting McCormick, Whitaker was in the getaway car with a loaded gun, also ready to shoot.
In a motion requesting a new trial, Robinson’s attorneys listed the five following reasons why the rapper should be granted one:
- Admission of highly prejudicial iCloud notes
- Recanted testimony of Officer Collins
- Misuse of state demonstratives and improper expert testimony
- Uneven utilization of demonstratives during voir dire
- Procedural compliance and request for evidentiary hearing
Robinson’s attorneys argued iCloud notes on Robinson’s phone predate the release of McCormick’s “diss track” song and reference unrelated acts of violence.
“The content was highly inflammatory, unrelated to the charges, and offered minimal probative value,” Robinson’s attorneys stated in the motion. “Its admission likely influenced the jury to convict based on emotion rather than the evidence presented, depriving Mr. Robinson of a fair trial.”
Throughout Robinson’s trial, his attorneys argued multiple times the difference in stature between the shooter and Robinson, saying the rapper was taller and weighed more.
In the motion, Robinson’s attorneys said Officer Jimmy Collins, who chased shooter, changed his description of the shooter’s height from 5’5-5’9 to “closer to his height of 6’4” during testimony at trial.
The rapper’s attorneys said the state failed to inform them before trial that Collins had changed his description of the shooter. And although a Richardson hearing was conducted on the matter, finding it to be inadvertent and not prejudicial, Robinson’s attorneys said the finding ignores “Florida law and the trial realties.”
“Here, the defense prepared for years to highlight the stark contrast between Officer Collins’ original description and and Mr. Robinson’s actual stature,” the motion states. “By learning of the changed testimony only during trial, the defense lost the opportunity to: Investigate why Collins altered his account after reviewing the video, secure expert testimony on perception and memory, emphasize the original description in opening statements, and develop impeachment grounded in pretrial investigation. This was not harmless. The change erased one of the defense’s most powerful exculpatory points and instead bolstered the State’s identification theory.”
Robinson’s attorneys further argued that the state used materials like computer scans and models presented by experts that were not admitted as exhibits. In doing so, the attorneys said the materials “conveyed substantive assertions about contested facts and were treated by the jury as evidence.”
Robinson’s co-defendant, Whitaker, who was convicted of first-degree murder as well as burglary with assault or battery in the murder, also has asked for a new trial. As of Tuesday afternoon, court records do not show when he is due in court for Salvador to hear his attorney’s argument on why he should be granted a new one.
