An Ascension community judge presiding over the rape and false imprisonment trial of New Orleans native rapper Mystikal on Monday barred attorneys, law enforcement officials and potential witnesses from speaking to the news media.
Mystikal’s new attorney, Tiffany Myles Crosby, asked for the gag order late last week because the two-time Grammy nominee’s case had received “excessive publicity” since his arrest in late July.
Mystikal, whose first name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, rose to national fame in the 1990s and is best known for his 2000 hit single “Shake (It Fast).” Because of this song, Tyler’s 2000 album Let’s Get Ready sold more than a million copies.
Prosecutors from District Attorney Ricky Babin’s office had no objection to Crosby’s request, and Judge Steven Tureau of the 23rd Circuit Court issued the order during a hearing in Gonzales.
Tyler recently fired his longtime defense attorneys who successfully represented him against a previous rape allegation in northern Louisiana that had attracted media attention in this latest case.
Prosecutors in Caddo Parish threw out the earlier case before the December 2020 trial after a grand jury declined to indict him a second time after seeing new evidence.
The gag order bars lawyers on either side from commenting on the recent case to “any person or entity,” including radio, television or newspaper reporters. The order applies to “all potential witnesses and law enforcement officials who either will or may testify or have information about the trial in this case.”
It also bans his former attorneys, Joel Pearce and Timothy Yazbeck, from speaking about the case.
Tureau also agreed to deny Tyler’s former attorneys’ requests for his alleged victim’s cellphone and mental health records and to reduce his bail.
Tyler, 52, is accused of violently assaulting a woman he has known for more than 20 years. Ascension Sheriff’s Investigators said the woman went to Tyler’s Prairieville home in July to seek financial help to set someone up in an apartment.
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