Mystikal’s rape trial delayed

Mystikal‘s rape trial has been pushed back until further notice.

New Orleans-based newspaper The Advocate reports the trial date, originally set for June 21, was pushed back following a request from the rapper’s attorney, Tiffany Myles Crosby. She’d asked the judge for a continuance last week, noting she needed time “to become abreast of all pertinent issues in this matter in order to provide efficient representation.” Judge Steven Tureau granted the trial continuance that day. 

A new trial date has not been set, but Mystikal, born Michael Lawrence Tyler, is due in court on August 21. He remains behind bars without bail.

Mystikal faces first-degree rape, robbery, false imprisonment and other charges for allegedly attacking a woman he’s known for over two decades in July 2022. Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office investigators said the woman went to the rapper’s Prairieville home, where she was robbed of her car keys and cellphone, and held against her will. Mystikal also allegedly raped and strangled the woman, prayed to remove her “bad spirits” and forced her to pay him $150 through a cellphone app, authorities said in an arrest warrant. 

Crosby sought a gag order in March to stop attorneys and others involved in the case from speaking about it to the media.