Since Saturday morning, Banks has been held in a Kitchener, Ontario, jail on assault and robbery charges after an incident involving a local promoter Friday night. Authorities say Banks and three others assaulted the promoter after the G-Unit member performed at Club NV in nearby Brantford late Friday night. There will be a bail hearing Tuesday; bail is $50,000 for Banks and $25,000 for the other men involved.
“There has been an agreement between the prosecution and defense for his release and the release for each of the individuals,” Patrick Ducharme, Banks’ legal counsel in Canada, told MTV News on Monday (January 11). “I expect for him to be released tomorrow morning. It’s just a question of posting some bail, which I’m going to do. I’m going up there tonight with the money, and they’ll be released sometime tomorrow morning.”
On Monday, audio was posted online of a man purported to be the victim, Chris Hines, talking about the incident. “We got into a confrontation, and of course, they assaulted me, they kept me there for a little while, assaulted me for a few minutes, like 20 minutes, 30 minutes,” he told the interviewer. “They had me there for quite some time.” When contacted by MTV News, Hines declined to comment or to confirm that the audio was him, although Ducharme confirmed the victim’s name.
Banks’ dealings with the court are far from over. Ducharme said he expects to enter a not-guilty plea on Banks’ behalf in three to four weeks, with a trial in the future.
“The case probably will proceed on the basis that it will be put over for three to four weeks for me to receive what is called the ‘prosecutors disclosure.’ That’s all the information that supposedly supports the charges. Then three to four weeks after I’ve had the chance to review that disclosure, I would be prepared to set the date for the trial or preliminary hearing, depending on some procedural matters. The case will proceed trough the courts. If it stays in the lower courts, it takes about a year and a few months to resolve. If it goes to the higher courts, it could be as along as a year and a half to bring the matter to court.”
At the time of our interview, Ducharme said he still had not met Banks face to face but described the G-Unit rapper as being in good spirits.
“He’s just fine,” the attorney said. “I have not met him personally. I’ve talked to him on the phone. He seems like he’s a very respectful, sensitive, thoughtful, intelligent man.”
Banks — whose real name is Christopher Lloyd — was arrested over the weekend shortly after a show late Friday night. Police told MTV News that Hines, a show promoter/ booking agent, alleged that Banks, Nicklas Sloane, Shawn McGee and Tyrell Cooper held him in his hotel room against his will, assaulted and robbed him. All four men were arrested at the hotel in Kitchener while the promoter was taken to the hospital with unspecified, non-life-threatening injuries.
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