On December 05, 1994, Tupac misses a hearing in Manhattan due to health concerns, the hearing is rescheuled for nine days later.
Citing Health, Rapper Misses Court Hearing
Published: December 6, 1994 / Source: NYTimes.com
Tupac Shakur, the wounded rap performer who was convicted of felony sex-abuse charges last week, failed to show up for a hearing in a Manhattan court yesterday because doctors were concerned about his medical condition, the judge in the case said.
The judge, Justice Daniel P. Fitzgerald of State Supreme Court, rescheduled the hearing, to set a sentencing date, for Dec. 14.
Justice Fitzgerald, who met with defense lawyers for about an hour in a closed-door hearing, said afterward in open court that Michael Warren, Mr. Shakur’s lawyer, had been granted the session because he wanted to keep Mr. Shakur’s whereabouts secret out of concern for his security.
Mr. Shakur was shot at least four times at a Manhattan recording studio last Wednesday in what the police have called a robbery attempt.
Mr. Shakur faces a maximum penalty of two and a third to seven years in prison after his conviction of felony sex abuse for groping a fan who went to his room at a hotel last year. He was acquitted of more serious charges of forcing the woman to have oral sex with him and his friends and of weapons charges.
His co-defendant, Charles Fuller, did not appear in court yesterday, either. “They are together in a safe place away from here,” said Robert Ellis, Mr. Fuller’s lawyer. Neither he nor Mr. Warren would say where the men were.
Mr. Shakur was discharged from Metropolitan Hospital Center in Manhattan on Friday, a day after his conviction by a Manhattan jury.
Justice Fitzgerald said he had been informed by Mr. Shakur’s doctor that “in his opinion, he was unable to be moved for a week.”
Source: NYTimes.com
