A Toronto judge has stayed first-degree murder charges against a popular underground rapper known as Top 5, whose legal fees were paid for by Drake.
A stay of charges is a relatively rare court decision to halt a trial and all court proceedings necessary to reach a verdict. It may occur when the judge has reason to believe the rights of the accused have been violated. However, it does not cancel charges brought against a defendant, it merely postpones the trial.
Top 5, whose name is Hassan Ali, was set to stand trial for allegedly ordering the killing of Hashim Hashi, a 20-year-old student who was murdered in Toronto three years ago.
Hashi was fatally shot while pulling into a parking garage at 40 Falstaff Avenue, near Jane Street and Highway 401, shortly before 9 p.m. on Jan. 31, 2021. Police say he was returning from dinner with friends at the time.
On the night of the murder, the prosecution alleges that occupants of a Honda Civic had been circling the area looking for someone to kill, the Toronto Star said.
It claims the shooter emerged from the front passenger seat of the vehicle while Ali was in a back passenger seat along with a third suspect who was driving.
The shooter and driver have not been identified.
According to reports by The Toronto Star, Crown attorney Sue Adams said on Monday that “crucial evidence had been excluded,” as an explanation for the judge’s decision to throw out the trial.
Superior Court Justice Andras Schreck acknowledged that while Ali “goads and threatens…and celebrates the deaths,” of gang members in his music videos, the risk of the jury misusing the evidence against him because of his disposition was “significant,” the Star reported.
“An innocent man is home,” Ali told reporters while leaving court on Monday.
Ali has a significant social media presence where he is known for posting content discussing gang-related violence.
The prosecution alleged that Ali is a member of a gang known as the Go Getem Gang, or GGG, and that the murder of Hashi occured as part of turf war between Ali’s gang and its rival the Falstaff Marke Gang, who are active in the area where the murder took place, the Toronto Star reported.
However, Ali maintains that references made on his social media to GGG are to a record label, not the gang.
“The Crown acknowledged that GGG is a record label, but takes the position that it is also a street gang,” the Crown said, according to the Star.
Schreck made the decision to let Ali go after hearing days of arguments from both the prosecution and defence.
According to the Star, prosecutors Adams and Lindsay Kromm intended to use a selection of Ali’s music videos and social media posts to prove his gang membership.
But defence lawyer Gary Grill opposed using it as evidence at trial, telling reporters on Monday morning that it “was entirely circumstantial.”
Ultimately, Schreck concluded that evidence linking the gang to the motive was tenuous after the prosecution argued that a reposted video of a person stepping on a Shopper’s Drug Mart bag, an apparent display of disrespect towards Ali’s brother, who was shot dead in 2017, was the impetus for Ali to find and kill someone in Falstaff gang territory, the Star said.
Schreck wrote in his decision that, “there is no evidence that Mr. Ali saw this post,” or that he was a follower of the Instagram account where it was posted,” according to reports.
While Schreck wrote that Ali “has a strong animus towards the Falstaff Marke Gang and its members,” as seen in his music videos and social media, he ruled that the prosecution’s evidence did not support the conclusion that Ali had any animosity towards innocent civilians living in Falstaff areas or any intention of harming them.
Ali was arrested in Feb. 2021 and charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder. He was released on bail in March and placed under house arrest.
According to reports, shortly after Ali was informed by his lawyers that his charge was being upgraded to first-degree murder, he allegedly removed his electronic ankle monitor and fled the country.
He was arrested in Los Angeles last fall and extradited back to Canada, The Star reported.
Following his release on Monday, Ali posted a picture of him and his lawyer on Instagram, where he thanked Grill and Toronto rapper Drake for paying his lawyer fees.
“Shoutout big bro @champagnepapi for the Lawyer Fees & Gary Grill for being the best lawyer in Toronto,” the rapper wrote.
Under the criminal code, when a prosecutor stays a case, the Crown has up to a year to restart proceedings.
