Qld: "Bad-ass rapper" has right to guns: lawyer

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2009
Qld: "Bad-ass rapper" has right to guns: lawyer

By David Barbeler

BRISBANE, April 28 AAP - Even a "bad-ass rapper" has the right to defend himself, a
Brisbane jury has heard.

Aspiring rap artist Jade Michael Lacey, 26, is facing one count of unlawful wounding
with intent and his brother Dionne Matthew Lacey, 22, is accused of murdering 23-year-old
landscaper Kevin Palmer.

Mr Palmer died after being shot in the leg and chest at a house party on Queensland's
Gold Coast on May 6, 2007.

The lawyer for Jade Lacey, who was cleared of murder during the trial on Monday, began
his closing argument in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Robert Richter QC told the jury that Jade - also known as rapper Lace Italiano - acted
in self-defence after Mr Palmer "exploded" at him after an argument.

Mr Richter said Mr Palmer had been diagnosed with symptoms of psychosis at a mental
health facility and had been hearing voices telling him to hurt people.

He said Mr Palmer was a bomb waiting to explode, and did so, at the Lacey brothers.

"Even a bad-ass rapper has the right and entitlement in law to defend himself and/or
his brother where there is a sufficient threat to life or limb," Mr Richter said.

Mr Richter said while carrying guns was illegal, the use of guns in some circumstances
of self-defence was not.

He told the jury there was no intent by the Lacey brothers to go to the apartment and
kill Mr Palmer, saying if there had been they wouldn't have shaken his hand then waited
for him to attack them.

"If there was intent, they would have gone straight in and said `Right, Mr Palmer you're
a SOB (son of a bitch) and what not' and bang-bang," Mr Richter said.

He also argued that evidence given in court raised the possibility that Jade Lacey
fired the gun as a warning shot, but hit Mr Palmer in the leg due to being quickly approached
in a confined space.

Earlier in the trial, a witness told the jury that Jade Lacey was an aspiring rapper
who didn't want to lose his image by being bashed by Mr Palmer.

The trial of the Lacey brothers, the sons of Gold Coast millionaire businessman Ken
Lacey, continues.

AAP djb/pjo/jpm/mn

KEYWORD: LACEY

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