A bill before Gov. Gavin Newsom would force prosecutors who want to use rap lyrics, or any other form of creative expression, to hold a pretrial hearing away from the jury to prove that the lyrics or other artistic expression are relevant to the case.
Looking back, Bryant’s attorney, Evan Kuluk, said he would have challenged the introduction of lyrics at the 2017 trial, but research into the use of creative expression was in its infancy.
Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton declined to comment on the bill or Bryant’s case. Becton took office in September 2017, months after Bryant’s conviction., a small group of district attorneys that supports alternatives to incarceration. The Prosecutors Alliance also declined to comment on the bill.
“The prosecution utilized racially coded and inaccurate assumptions of rap music as criminal confessions and autobiographies and stereotypes of Black men as inherently dangerous criminals to secure Gary Bryant’s conviction,” she wrote. “The whole music industry uses violence in their songs, you know? But my son is not violent. Those lyrics don’t portray who he is.”The bill before the governor also highlights the role of gang investigators, who tend to be working police officers, academics or retired members of law enforcement.
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