Rapper DMX angers judge

2005-11-18 11:35

New York - Rapper DMX, after arriving three hours late for a Thursday sentencing hearing, was ordered to spend the night in jail on Rikers Island before he appears before an angry Queens judge who has threatened to extend his pending sentence from 60 days to one year.

The rapper was ordered to remove his sunglasses and a knit wool cap by court officers after his late arrival in the courtroom of criminal court Judge Steven Paynter, who granted prosecutor Gerard Brave's request to jail DMX overnight.

"Is there anything else?" asked the rapper, whose real name is Earl Simmons.

Attitude

Simmons had earlier sauntered up the courthouse steps in his cap, a tan leather jacket and jeans, as a reality television show camera crew filmed his arrival. With his wife on his arm, he munched on a small bag of potato chips, oblivious to a crowd of reporters, photographers and other camera crews.

An hour before Simmons showed, Judge Dorothy Chin-Brandt had issued a bench warrant for the rapper over the protests of his attorney.

Simmons, 34, of Mount Kisco, was facing a 60-day jail term and a $1 000 fine after pleading guilty last month to violating the conditions of his release following a June 2004 incident at Kennedy International Airport.

Simmons, after claiming he was a federal agent, smashed his SUV into a parking lot gate, apparently to avoid paying the $9 parking charge. Since then, authorities said, he has been cited twice for traffic violations, leading to his current plight.

Speeding offence

Defence attorney Murray Richman implored the judge to give his client until 17:00 to appear. Later, he claimed Simmons was late because of an asthma attack brought on by stress.

But Chin-Brandt instead issued the warrant, and indicated she might now hand down the maximum sentence of one year in jail when Simmons appears on Friday.

Under the terms of Simmons' December 2004 conditional release, he was required to stay out of trouble for one year. But officials said he instead was cited for speeding near his Westchester County home at 167km per hour, and for an accident in the Bronx with two other vehicles - one of them an unmarked police car.

- AP