Busta Rhymes has avoided having his four pending trials bundled into one.
E! Online reports that the District Attorney petitioned the Manhattan Criminal Court to get two pending assault cases and two driving violation cases consolidated into one trial. This would mean that each incident could be linked to the others, potentially showing a pattern of bad behaviour that could penalise the superstar rapper more heavily.Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Larry Stephen rejected the petition, meaning that each case will be tried separately, but the DA noted that they will be tried consecutively.
One assault charge was filed by a 19 year old man who claimed he was "roughed up" by Busta after spitting on the rapper's SUV. The second comes from his former driver following a monetary dispute. The driving violations are for running a red light with a suspended license and drunk driving in a car with "excessively tinted windows".
Busta expressed his joy at the judge's ruling by high-fiving his defense attorney Scott Leemon then kissing the courtroom sketch-artist on the cheek.
His next hearing is scheduled for September 5.
