NEW YORK (AP) - A lawyer for G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo, who is accused of slapping a 14-year-old boy on a Manhattan street, wants the charges dropped after prosecutors revealed Thursday that another man has confessed.
Yayo, 29, whose real name is Marvin Bernard, has pleaded not guilty to charges of misdemeanor assault, harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. The boy is the son of Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, who co-founded Czar Entertainment and manages Yayo's rival rapper The Game.
A Yayo acquaintance, Lowell Fletcher, told police during an unrelated jailhouse interview that he had slapped the youth in March and Yayo pulled him away, said the rapper's attorney, Scott Leemon.
"They disclosed it today, and we plan to file a motion for dismissal," Leemon said of Assistant District Attorney Daryl Reed who told the court his office learned about Fletcher's statement last week.
According to the statement, "Fletcher saw a young boy wearing a Czar Entertainment T-shirt. Fletcher further stated that he slapped the boy across the face and began to grab the boy's shirt. At this point Marvin Bernard (Yayo) exited the vehicle, tried to restrain him (Fletcher) and get him back in the vehicle."
"Although the statement is harmful to my client," Fletcher's lawyer, Robert Macedonio said, "it seems that Tony Yayo really didn't do anything but pull him (Fletcher) off this kid."
The lawyer said the statement taken in August was "in violation of his constitutional rights" because police were not supposed to question him without his lawyer being present.
Macedonio said his client is serving a 2 1/2-year sentence for drug possession.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Neil E. Ross set a tentative trial date for March 31 but told both sides to file motions regarding the statement before then. AP
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