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Rapper Tiny Doo faces life for 'promoting' gang shootings, despite no involvement

Brandon Duncan, a.k.a. Tiny Doo, has no criminal record, was not present for any of the crimes and faces a life sentence if convicted.

By Matt Bradwell

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- An aspiring rapper and documented gang member based in San Diego is charged with attempted murder for including lyrics promoting the gang that allegedly tried to kill nine people in 2013, although prosecutors admit the rapper was not present for any of the charged crimes. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

Brandon Duncan, who performs under the name Tiny Doo, is charged along with 14 other gang members with multiple counts of attempted murder stemming from nine separate shootings in San Diego's Lincoln Park neighborhood in April 2013.

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Although he is a documented member of the unnamed gang stemming from dismissed 2008 pimping charges, prosecutors concede Duncan was neither present nor had anything to do with any of the shootings.

But because Duncan raps about the gang, prosecutors claim the group's criminal endeavors benefit Duncan financially by legitimizing his stories of street life, while simultaneously promoting his most recent album, No Safety.

"It's no different than Snoop Dogg or Tupac," Duncan's attorney, Brian Watkins, told the LA Times, adding, "It's telling the story of street life."

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What is different than Snoop and Tupac is the fact that Duncan's album was recorded after 2000, when California voters passed a little-known and heretofore never enforced law allowing for the prosecution of known gang members who "willfully promote" crimes committed by their colleagues.

"It's shocking," Watkins declared to San Diego's ABC affiliate.

"He has no criminal record. Nothing in his lyrics say go out and commit a crime. Nothing in his lyrics reference these shootings, yet they are holding him liable for conspiracy. There are huge constitutional issues."

"We're not just talking about a CD of anything, of love songs. We're talking about a CD (cover) ... there is a revolver with bullets," said Deputy District Attorney Anthony Campagna.

"Where does that end if that's the definition of criminal liability?" asks Thomas Jefferson School of Law professor Alex Kreit.

"Is Martin Scorsese going to be prosecuted if he meets with mafia members for a movie for his next film? The Constitution says it can't be a crime to simply make gangster rap songs and hang out with people that are committing crimes. You have to have more involvement than that."

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Duncan's offending album is currently available to stream for free on Soundcloud, but, as Gawker notes, "by listening to it, [one] may somehow be implicated in nine California shootings for which 14 men are about to stand trial."

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