According to a recent report put out by the New York Daily News, Bobby Shmurda, real name Ackquille Pollard, was released from prison on bail. The report was shared by other major outlets, and news of Shmurda's alleged freedom is currently spreading across social media. Complex has apparently reached out to Shmurda's lawyers, who have denied rumors of their client's release, maintaining that he is still in prison awaiting his trial proceedings for drugs and weapons charges, which are set to begin on May 11 after being pushed back from the original start date of Feb. 22.
Though it seems that Shmurda has not been released, it has been confirmed that he and civil rights lawyer Derek Sells have filed a lawsuit against the NYPD for false arrest.
A suit filed by Sells in Brooklyn Federal Court yesterday (Apr. 29) states that Shmurda was the target of a wrongful and warrantless search when police entered the Brooklyn apartment he was in, belonging to a friend, on Dec. 17, 2014. They went on to find guns and drug paraphernalia upon entering the apartment, which led to the arrest of Shmurda and the others on the premises. Shmurda has denied that either the guns or paraphernalia belonged to him.
The lawsuit recounts the allegedly unjust means by which police began the search that led to the arrests of Shmurda and his cohorts:
"When one of the occupants opened the door a slight bit to see who was there, Officer Douglas Corso and other police officers kicked in the door and illegally entered the residence without a search warrant."
Shmurda further alleges that police taunted him with lyrics of his hit songs (likely "Hot N*gga") while conducting the search. The aforementioned Douglas Corso is the only NYPD officer that has been mentioned by name in the lawsuit. Corso has apparently been named in five civil rights suits 2011.
The 21-year-old rapper claims to have suffered "nervous shock and mental anguish" because of the arrest and the ensuing 16 months (and counting) he has spent in prison.