Celebrity Court

According to Perez Hilton, soap opera star Nathaniel Marston was arrested after getting in to a fight in New York city this weekend. The star of One Life To Live actor was apparently under the influence of narcotics when he beat three people with a crate and broke one of their legs.

When the police arrived and attempted to arrest him, he began flailing his arms and kicking the officers. He was charged with two counts each of felony assault, reckless endangerment and criminal possession of a weapon as well as one count of resisting arrest

Marston was taken to Bellevue, the city mental hospital, where he was evaluated as an “emotionally disturbed person,” but was released on Sunday.

This is apparently not Marston’s first showing of anger issues. He was arrested in October 1999 on criminal mischief charges after he punched and damaged an ATM in New York City. Maybe it told him he was out of money?

There was also a blow-up on the set of the soap opera last week and people on the set stated he seemed to be an “emotional wreck.”  He told a magazine in 2003 that he had anger problems in his childhood that continued into adult. He said that he would sit quiet in class as a child and “explode: boom! It was fierce and violent.”

For someone to attack people so violently, seemingly without provocation, there has to be seriously wrong.   Hopefully now that this will be involved in the courts, Marston can get some help for whatever is ailing him.  It appears that he may have a dangerous mix of mental illness and illegal drug use, which can lead to even more drastic consequences than what happened last weekend.

Nathaniel Marston, One Life to Live, soap operas

Although many expected rapper T.I. to be released on bond following his hearing before a magistrate yesterday, he was instead ordered to remain in jail until Friday on weapons charges. He was arrested after reportedy purchasing several machine guns from a man who was cooperating with federal officials.

According to TMZ, the Friday court hearing will be to determine if there is probable cause to detain T.I. and whether or not he will be given bond. Certainly the judge is going to find probable cause for the arrest, even based on what little we know about the case. It does not take all that much to amount to probable cause, only that at the time of the arrest, there is a “a reasonable belief that a crime has been committed.” Presumably there were a number of police officers watching the buy go down and that is sufficient for probable cause.

The real focus of the hearing will likely be the bond. The prosecutors are reportedly arguing for no bail, presumably because he is a flight risk and because of the potential danger to the community.  Anyone with a lot of money can be a potential flight risk, although typically people with money can make bail, which is probably why they want to get no-bond.

T.I.’s previous convictions, as well as the number of weapons that he allegedly attempted to purchase are things that the judge will considering in deciding whether to grant him bond. Usually no-bond cases are reserved for defendants facing murder charges or other violent crimes. I cannot imagine the judge giving him no-bond, no matter how menacing the cache of weapons looks.

The photo above, courtesy of TMZ, shows the weapons that T.I. allegedly purchased.

T.I., weapons charges

According to People, Rapper T.I. (Clifford Harris) was a no-show at the BET Hip-Hop Awards over the weekend, even though he won two awards and was scheduled to perform. He had a good reason for his absence, though: he was in jail on weapons charges.

T.I., who is known as “King of the South” was arrested in shopping mall parking lot in Atlanta after he allegedly purchased illegal machine guns. He was formally charged federally with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

According to unconfirmed reports, T.I. purchased the illegal weapons from someone who was cooperating with the ATF following his own arrest on similar charges on Wednesday.

I can already predict the defense at trial: entrapment. I do not even fully know the facts of the case, but anytime there is a high profile case involving undercover police or similar situations, it seems like the defense is always entrapment: The defendant would not have committed the crime had he not been enticed to do so by the police or someone acting as an agent of the police.

The charge of “possession of a firearm by a convicted felon” shows that this is not his first run-in with the law. T.I.’s previous felony was a 1997 conviction for distribution of cocaine. He received probation in that case, but was later incarcerated for a period of time in 2004 after violating his probation.

One of the two awards that he won at the BET Hip-Hop Awards was CD of the Year for T.I. vs. T.I.P.

The previously-recorded awards show will air this Wednesday on BET at 8:00 p.m. eastern time.  T.I. is expected to appear before a magistrate judge sometime today.

T.I., machine guns, BET Hip-Hop Awards, BET, weapons charges

Rapper Snoop Dogg pleaded guilty yesterday to one count of felony possession of a deadly weapon. He was arrested at an airport when he he was found to have a collapsible baton in his carry-on luggage.

As part of the plea agreement, Snoop Dogg will avoid jail time, but must serve 160 hours of community service and make a $10,000 contribution to charity.

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Snoop Dogg, weapons charges

According to the New York Post, hip-hop performer Remy Ma was charged with witness-tampering and gang-assault charges. She is already facing charges that she shot a woman in the stomach during a dispute over money.

The basis for the latest chargers is that she allegedly tried to prevent of the prosecution’s key witnesses from testifying by having her boyfriend intimidate the witness’ boyfriend. When the man tried to leave, he was allegedly attacked by friends of Remy, which resulted in a broken jaw.

Remy Ma

Arizona police raided the home of rapper DMX on Friday after they learned that there were dogs living in poor conditions. When officials arrived, they found a dozen pit bulls who had not been properly watered or fed. Police seized the dogs, as well as a “stockpile” of weapons in the home. DMX was not home at the time and is wanted for questioning.

Murray Richman, whose is DMX’s attorney, told the media that DMX has not been home for several months and that they had a caretaker who was supposed to be caring for the dogs. Richman said that DMX was “extremely disturbed” when learned about the mistreatment of his dogs. Richman added that DMX “loves these animals. Those dogs are practically his family.”

This is not the first time that DMX had a run-in with the law for similar offenses. In 2002, he plead guilty to avoid jail time in connection with a raid on his home that uncovered “enough guns to arm a militia” and 13 pit bulls. As part of the plea deal he also had to make a series of public service announcements urging people to be kind to animals.

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DMX, pitbulls, weapons