Lil Durk wants an unspecified text message excluded from his upcoming murder-for-hire trial, with his legal team arguing that this exclusion is justified for a slew of reasons.
In court documents filed July 27 and viewed by Complex, Durk’s legal team, including Drew Findling and Brian Steel, pointed to the government’s disclosing of draft trial exhibits earlier this month, specifically the proposed inclusion of a text message they argue was “late-disclosed” despite the phone it was taken from having been in Georgia Bureau of Investigation hands since July 2021. Furthermore, per their argument, the device was “unlawfully seized.”
Lawyers say the phone was taken from Durk’s home during an operation in connection with an attempted home invasion and robbery in which their client was the victim, not the perpetrator. For this, and other reasons, the Deep Thoughts artist’s legal team is pushing for the text, the contents of which have not been publicly disclosed, to be excluded from forthcoming proceedings.
Other arguments made by the defense are that the phone fell “outside the scope” of a Gwinnett County warrant, a second warrant out of Rockdale County fell short of Fourth Amendment requirements, law enforcement officials “failed to promptly segregate” the data, and the FBI’s warrant application represented an instance of “unreasonable and unlawful delay.”
“There is no good reason that the government should have waited until one month before trial to seek a warrant for evidence that has been in law enforcement’s custody since 2021,” Durk’s lawyers further argued.
News of Durk’s attempt to have the text excluded was first reported by AllHipHop.
Earlier this month, Lil Durk, born Durk Banks, scored a significant legal victory, as his efforts to have racketeering counts severed from the larger case proved successful. In a statement shared with Complex at the time, Findling said he and the rest of Durk’s legal team were “very happy” with this outcome.
“For 21 months, we have been unwavering in our commitment to Mr. Banks and his innocence, and look forward to an August 20, 2026 trial,” Findling said, per prior reporting from Complex’s Shawn Setaro.
