Escalating Tension
On August 25, 1993, Snoop, who was in the midst of recording his seminal debut album Doggystyle, left his apartment in the Palms neighborhood of West Los Angeles, an area known for gang activity, with bodyguard McKinley “Malik” Lee.
“You have to think about the neighborhood Snoop lived in at the time and the gang activity,” says Abbie Kearse, former MTV News host/producer who covered the trial. “Anyone from that area is well-aware of gang activity around [Palms Woodbine Park] from different crews and sets…There was fear that you don’t know who’s approaching you and who is trying to intimidate you. If you feel threatened, there will be a standoff.”
Snoop and Lee had heard shouting, and Lee, insisting that something was about to happen, went back inside to grab his weapon. They also saw a friend of Snoop’s, Sean Abrams, arguing with a pair of gang members in a vehicle. According to Lee’s testimony, one of the passengers was Woldemariam; it’s also alleged that Woldemariam had threatened Snoop weeks earlier Shortly thereafter, the car drove off.
Later, Snoop, Lee, and Abrams were on their way to the recording studio, with Snoop driving a black Jeep Cherokee. Eventually, they ended up at Palms Woodbine Park, where Woldemariam and company were. Snoop pulled the Cherokee over after they were flagged down, and according to Lee, one of the gang members apologized for what had happened before Woldemariam started chasing the vehicle.
Lee says Woldemariam reached into his belt for his weapon, and Lee allegedly pulled out his own weapon and fired one shot at him. Snoop drove away, called the police and went into seclusion. Woldemariam was later confirmed dead.
The prosecution argued at trial that Woldemariam had, in fact, been unarmed, though two of their witnesses later changed their stories and said he was.
A Celebrity Trial
On September 2, Snoop turned himself in after appearing at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards. The following day, he was released on $1 million bail. That November, Doggystyle was released and became the first rap album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. One of the album’s tracks was titled “Murder Was the Case.”
Snoop and Lee were charged with first-degree murder; both were looking at life in prison. The prosecution contended that Snoop and Lee murdered Woldemariam as he was attempting to flee the altercation in the park. Meanwhile, the defense contended that both men were lured into the park and Lee shot Woldemariam in self-defense.
The prosecution team was led by Deputy District Attorneys Bobby Grace and Ed Nison, and their case was admittedly hindered after police accidentally destroyed the clothing Woldemariam was wearing when he was killed, along with a bullet and shell casing from the crime scene.
The defense team included high-profile attorney David Kenner, who had represented the founder of Death Row Records, Marion “Suge” Knight, and Johnnie Cochran, who was also caught up in the furor of the O.J. Simpson trial. In fact, at one point, the trial was right down the hall from Simpson’s at the Foltz Criminal Courts Building in Los Angeles.
Snoop’s trial shone a spotlight on the imagery and lyrics in the subgenre of gangsta rap. Civic leaders like C. Delores Tucker and former Secretary of Education William Bennett had formed a bipartisan coalition criticizing the entertainment industry for violent imagery. Tucker in particular singled out gangsta rap for glorifying violence and misogyny in what she would refer to as “pornographic smut.” In 1994, Tucker, along with legendary singers Dionne Warwick and Melba Moore, testified at a congressional hearing on the proliferation of antisocial behavior in rap music and its effects on children.
Many rappers at the time, including Snoop, pushed back, saying they were simply using music and videos to reflect the realities of growing up Black in urban America with a lack of economic and social investment.
On February 20, 1996, the verdict was rendered. The jury acquitted Snoop and Lee on all charges.
After the verdict, Abbie Kearse conducted an exclusive interview with Snoop for MTV News, during which he came across as angry, relieved and remorseful. From that point on, Snoop maintained his hardcore persona but began balancing it with a more inviting and unifying public image. That dynamic has carried him to where he is today.
“A lot of what stays with me is that I am so happy to see him thriving and doing what he loves to do, which is performing,” says Kearse. “It is very sweet and very endearing. [What I] could tell from the first time I met him in ‘93 is [that] he has a very warm, sweet disposition. I think he really connects with people, because he was asking me about stuff that didn’t have anything to do with the production.
“I think he had a really profound sense of sadness for another human being,” she adds. “He is open to new ideas, new people and new things.”
Snoop’s star has grown significantly over the years, expanding well beyond hip-hop audiences. Part of that comes from his ability to make himself accessible to different cultural spaces and projecting a fatherly persona despite this period in his earlier life.
“His legacy is his talent,” Kearse says. “His talent is just undeniable. The talent as an MC on the mic, free style, on record, whether it's recorded or live, whether it’s watching him on TV. It’s his talent that comes to mind.”
