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Music on Trial: Challenging the Use of Rap as Evidence in Criminal Courts
03 May 2023, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Join us for a presentation by Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah (London School of Economics) about the use of rap music in English criminal trials.
This event is free.
Event Information
Open to
- All
Availability
- Yes
Cost
- Free
Organiser
-
Clive Nwonka
Location
-
Haldane RoomGround Floor, North CloistersUCL, Gower Street, LondonWC1E 6BT
Prosecutors have increasingly relied on rap music lyrics and videos as evidence in criminal proceedings since the mid-2000s, despite growing concern about the discriminatory nature of this practice. This presentation will explore the current approach to the admissibility and use of rap music in English criminal trials by presenting findings from an analysis of appeal cases. It will detail the profile of ‘rap cases’, challenge the categorisation of rap music as ‘bad character evidence’, and critique the way in which questions of relevance and prejudicial effect have been addressed by the courts. It will be argued that, in line with law reform proposals in the US, a much more rigorous approach to admission of rap is needed to prevent prosecutors from relying on irrelevant and unreliable evidence, drawing on stereotypical narratives and racist imagery to construct case theories.
About the Speaker
Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah
Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Evidence at Department of Law, London School of Economics
Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah is an Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Evidence within the Department of Law at LSE. Prior to joining the LSE, Abenaa was Lecturer in Law at City, University of London. She has also held positions as Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex, Teaching Fellow at UCL, and as a research assistant at the Law Commission for England and Wales. Abenaa’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of criminal procedure, the law of evidence and criminal law. Her current research focuses on the admissibility and use of rap music as evidence in criminal trials. Abenaa holds a PhD from UCL, an LLM in Criminology and Criminal Justice from UCL, and an LLB from the University of Bristol
More about Dr Abenaa Owusu-Bempah