The Texas Lawbook featured appellate lawyer Chad Baruch’s acclaimed “Hip Hop Brief” in its Litigation Roundup in a section that highlights the reversal of a murder conviction over “prejudicial” rap videos.
The top criminal court in Texas recently issued a ruling that reversed a capital murder conviction for Larry Jean Hart, finding prosecutors were wrongly allowed to show jurors two music videos where Hart lip-synced to rap lyrics written by other artists during trial.
Managing partner Mr. Baruch made national news in 2015 after authoring an amicus brief he filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, representing several rappers in support of a Mississippi high school student, who was disciplined for posting a rap song online.
The so-called “Hip Hop Brief” explained to the high court justices that rap music deserves First Amendment protections, despite its sometimes violent rhetoric. He argues the same principles apply to the Hart case.
“The only thing that surprised me was that they got the right result. For Texas, of all places, to be a national leader on this issue, you just wouldn’t expect that,” Mr. Baruch told The Texas Lawbook.