Lawyer says Blueface likely ‘overcharged’ in Las Vegas shooting
The book appears to have been thrown too hard at the rapper Blueface, his Las Vegas attorney says.
Blueface, whose legal name is Johnathan Porter, faces charges of attempted murder and firing a gun at an occupied vehicle in connection with an Oct. 8 shooting outside a Las Vegas strip club.
“From first glance it appears that the charges are overcharged,” said Porter’s attorney Lisa Rasmussen, who is representing the rapper along with attorneys Kristina Wildeveld and Caitlyn McAmis.
Porter, 25, was arrested Tuesday outside Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles, near East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane after the Metropolitan Police Department said surveillance video showed him firing shots at a man identified in the arrest report as Kentabius Traylor.
The shooting happened just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 8 outside the Euphoric Gentlemen’s Club at 6370 Windy Lane.
According to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute, the term overcharging, in the context of the criminal justice system, occurs when a “criminal prosecutor tries to prosecute the accused for more serious crimes than the known facts support.”
Rasmussen declined to comment on why she thinks Porter’s case is overcharged. She also declined to say anything about how her client feels about the allegations, and has instructed him to not talk to media outlets.
According to Metro, Traylor had met Porter earlier in the night after recognizing the rapper in the club. But when Porter was leaving Euphoric, Traylor apparently “remarked on Blueface speaking with some females in a cheap vehicle,” the arrest report stated.
Traylor “made an audible joke,” the arrest report stated, and immediately after was hit multiple times by males he believed to be part of Blueface’s entourage.”
When Traylor tried to drive away, bullets hit the pickup truck he was driving. One bullet appeared to have grazed his left hand, police said.
Investigators viewed surveillance video from the strip club and alleged in the report that Porter “is seen on surveillance video firing what appears to be a handgun into the passenger compartment striking Taylor in the left hand narrowly missing his head due to Traylor being ducked down and driving away.”
The purported video of the shooting was posted on TMZ.com, but Rasmussen declined to comment on it. She said she hadn’t yet received a copy of the video in discovery, a legal term which refers to the exchange of evidence between the defense and prosecution in the lead-up to a possible trial.
Rasmussen, without getting into specifics, said she believes the evidence will show a different story from what’s been alleged against her client.
“The other thing I’d like to say is that we’re really looking forward to litigating this matter in court on behalf of our client and we think that when all of the evidence comes out in court, it will be apparent that the way he’s charged is not necessarily consistent with what appears to have actually happened,” Rasmussen said.
Porter appeared in court Wednesday and was released on a $50,000 bail, court records show. The next court date in Porter’s case is set for Jan. 24.
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com or 561-324-6421. Follow @BrettClarkson_ on Twitter.