Fugees star Pras Michel is requesting a new trial by claiming his defense attorneys allegedly leaned on artificial intelligence to compile their final argument for the jury.
In April, he was convicted on charges of conspiring to make straw campaign donations, witness tampering and acting as an unregistered foreign agent for China.
Michel’s new counsel from ArentFox Schiff said the rapper’s previous lawyer, David Kenner’s “closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes and ignored critical weaknesses in the government’s case.”
Anyone remember how David Kenner took over after Tory Lanez was convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, then left to do Pras Michel's trial in D.C.?
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) October 17, 2023
Michel's new trial motion is in, and it's brutal to Kenner. It says he used artificial intelligence to draft his closing. pic.twitter.com/egGgFpH7k7
“The AI program failed Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel,” the filing continues. “The closing argument was deficient, unhelpful and a missed opportunity that prejudiced the defense.”
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel was accused of funneling money for Jho Low into Barack Obama’s 2012 election campaign. Low is a Malaysian businessman who allegedly stole billions of dollars from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.
“We are extremely disappointed in that result but are very, very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case,” Kenner told reporters at the time. “If we do move to a sentencing hearing I remain very confident we will certainly appeal this case. This is not over.”
